CAHO - Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario
 
  About UsWhat We DoCurrent IssuesMedia CentreResource Centre  
   
 
 
  Home  |  What We Do  |  Adopting Research to Improve Care (ARTIC)  |  ASP Project  >
 
 
ARTIC
Canadian C-Spine Rule
HandyAudit™ asp project move on Research Successes

Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) in Intensive Care Units ARTIC Project

Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are the sickest patients in the hospital, and are among those with the highest risk of acquiring infections. They are also at high risk to acquire drug-resistant infections, (including C. difficile and invasive fungal infections). For these reasons, antimicrobial consumption is highest in ICUs, with 70% of patients at any one time receiving antimicrobials, and almost all patients being exposed to antimicrobials in the ICU at some time during their stay.

Most ICUs have challenges with antimicrobial-resistant infections. Through the establishment of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) in ICUs, it is anticipated that the resistance profile in ICUs to commonly used antimicrobials will improve considerably over time. Whereas infection and prevention control is an approach to control antimicrobial resistance by reducing the spread of infectious diseases by physical means (i.e. hand hygiene, cleaning, decontamination, isolation and barrier precautions), antimicrobial stewardship aims for patients to receive the right antimicrobials, only when they need them.

Developed by Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto) in collaboration with University Health Network, this program will help intensive care units optimize the use of antimicrobials to improve patient outcomes while minimizing antimicrobial resistance and costs.

Based on the experience at Mount Sinai Hospital and University Health Network, it is anticipated that antimicrobial stewardship will reduce ICU antimicrobial use by 12-25% and will reduce ICU antimicrobial costs by 23-41%.

Currently, the following hospitals are participating in the CAHO ASP ARTIC Project: Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Hamilton Health Sciences, Health Sciences North, Kingston General Hospital, London Health Science Centre, Mount Sinai Hospital, North York General Hospital, The Ottawa Hospital, The Hospital for Sick Children, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, St. Michael’s Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, and University Health Network.