Antibiotic Monitoring (High Risk)

Implementation Date: 10/2021

Date of Last Review: 3/22/2023

Next Review Due: 3/21/2025

 

Reviewed by VTH Administrative Team: 10/2021

Reviewed by VTH Board: N/A

 

Reviewed by Legal Counsel: N/A

Reviewed by Biosecurity Subcommittee: N/A

Subject to modification by the VTH Director without approval.

Policy

Intend of this policy is to ensure the judicious use of antibiotics that are critical to human medicine. This covers the antibiotics available in the Medication Dispensary that are considered high-risk. Once a prescription for the high risk antibiotic has been entered, fill out the Antibiotic Monitoring Form.

Reasoning:

Antibiotic resistance is rising in all parts of the world. Preventing the emergence and spread of resistance due to misuse and overuse of high risk, critically important antibiotics is a top priority in order to preserve their benefits.

Procedure (if applicable)

1. After reviewing the appropriate guidelines and your patient’s culture results*, put in a prescription for your antibiotic.
   1. Ensure that the antibiotic you are interested in prescribing is the best choice for this patient and is indicated for their disease state.
      1. Confirm the culture did not provide results for other antibiotics of a lower-risk class that were susceptible and an acceptable treatment option.
   2. The antibiotics that have been deemed high risk are Vancomycin, Meropenem, Ceftazidime, Zosyn, and Linezolid.
   3. This form does not apply to Zoo Medicine patients.

*If the culture results are still pending, fill out the rest of the form to the best of your ability. The drug will be reviewed based on the patient’s disease state and prior medication received. Alert the pharmacy when your culture results are available so that we can finish our review and confirm this was the best antibiotic choice.

2. The antibiotic monitoring form will auto-populate in the patient’s EMR for you to fill out.                
   4. This should be filled out prior to coming to pick up the medication.
3. Fill out the form to the best of your ability including previous antibiotic treatment and clinical indication as this is required for pharmacist to complete their clinical review and fill the medication. 
   1. Save the form as a draft.
   2. The pharmacist will save as final once the review is complete.

If more information is required, the form will be saved as a draft by the pharmacist and the student/clinician who comes to pick up the medication will be informed.

Definitions (if applicable)

Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH): The collective clinical services of the Large Animal Clinic, Midwest Equine, the Small Animal Clinic, and the Veterinary Medicine South Clinic.