RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Quality improvement initiative to reduce URI-associated antibiotic prescriptions among adult primary care providers JF BMJ Open Quality JO BMJ Open Qual FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group SP e002811 DO 10.1136/bmjoq-2024-002811 VO 13 IS 3 A1 Sathe, Niharika A1 Klein, Marlena A1 Rose, Lucia A1 Byrne, Dana YR 2024 UL http://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/13/3/e002811.abstract AB Importance Despite evidence that most upper respiratory infections (URIs) are due to viruses, antibiotics are frequently prescribed for this indication in the outpatient setting. Antibiotic stewardship strategies are needed to reduce adverse patient outcomes and staggering healthcare costs due to resistant infections that ensue from inappropriate prescriptions.Objective To determine if individual provider scorecards detailing antibiotic prescribing rates paired with educational resources reduce inappropriate antibiotic use for URIs in the outpatient primary care setting.Design, setting and participants This quality improvement project investigated the number of URI-coded office visits in the primary care setting over three consecutive influenza seasons, which resulted in an antibiotic prescription in Cooper University Healthcare’s 14 primary care offices. We compared provider’s individual prescribing patterns to their peers’ average and created a scorecard that was shared with each provider over a series of intervention phases. Data were collected from a preintervention period (November 2017–February 2018), and two postintervention phases, phase I (November 2018–February 2019) and phase II (November 2019–February 2020).Intervention A personalised, digital scorecard containing antibiotic-prescribing data for URI-coded visits from the prior influenza season was emailed to each primary care provider. Prior to the subsequent influenza season, prescribers received their updated prescribing rates as well as peer-to-peer comparisons. In both phases, the scorecard was attached to an email with antimicrobial stewardship educational materials.Main outcomes and measures The primary outcome was a reduction in the number of inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions for URI-related diagnoses. The diagnoses were organised into five broad coding categories, including bronchitis, sinusitis, sore throat excluding strep, influenza and tonsillitis excluding strep.No data are available.