Aim I tests the hypothesis that a multi-faceted implementation strategy that includes educational sessions with members of electrophysiology teams and locally-adapted monthly surveillance reports about guideline-concordant pre-procedural antimicrobial use and guideline-discordant post-procedural antimicrobial use, 90-day incidence of CIED infections, and 90-day incidence of C. difficile infections and 7-day incidence of AKI that will be delivered to local infectious diseases champions and shared with electrophysiology teams using blended facilitation will promote uptake of best practices and improve outcomes. This hypothesis incorporates learning/unlearning and fills a major gap caused by the dearth of rigorous de- implementation and de-adoption studies. Aim II tests the hypothesis that electronic health records (EHRs) and medical informatics have advanced to the point that it will be feasible, during the next four years, to establish an audit and feedback surveillance system that can be scaled and disseminated widely across the VA.
This study will use mixed qualitative and quantitative methods to address the study aims. This will include interviews with key stakeholders and quantitative measurement of quality metrics (e.g., pre-and post-procedure antimicrobial use) and outcomes (e.g., cardiac device infections, acute kidney injuries, C. difficile infections).
All patients receiving a cardiac device implantation within the VA healthcare system during the study period may be potentially included. Medical records previously reviewed and accessed may also be included for validation, testing, and optimization of electronic algorithms. In addition to the VA patients who will participate, key stakeholders for infection prevention in the cardiac device laboratory (e.g., providers, nurses, electrophysiology laboratory staff) will also participate in interviews. Active implementation will occur at 3 VA sites, a passive dissemination process will occur at all VA sites with a cardiac device laboratory (\~78 VA sites).
High quality studies establish that prolonged prophylaxis has no beneficial impact on CIED-related infection rates but worsens outcomes and leads to preventable deaths. Despite guidelines specifically recommending against prolonged prophylaxis, this practice is common in cardiac electrophysiology laboratories, including VA and non-VA hospitals. At the same time, antimicrobial resistance and overuse represent critical threats to the health of the population. This intersection- inappropriate prescribing and a critical need to improve use-- creates an urgent need for research into methods to promote adoption of best antimicrobial use and de-implementation of ineffective and harmful prescribing. IT-based solutions for improving antimicrobial use, including antimicrobial prophylaxis, is a quality-improvement strategy endorsed by The Joint Commission. This project will advance this concept and couple learning/unlearning processes to promote uptake of best practices. If effective, this model can be replicated in other settings of care to improve antimicrobial use.
