Development of quality indicators for antimicrobial stewardship in Belgian hospitals: a RAND - modified Delphi procedure.

Inappropriate antibiotic use is a major cause of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, optimizing antibiotic usage is essential. In Belgium, optimization of antimicrobials for the fight against multidrug resistant organisms (MDROs) is followed up by national surveillance by public health authorities. To improve appropriate antimicrobial use in hospitals, an effective national Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) program should include indicators for measuring both the quantity and quality of antibiotic use. The aim of this study was to develop a set of process quality indicators (QIs) to evaluate and i... Mehr ...