Objectives:

To measure the impact on the quality of the empirical antibiotic prescription in general practitioners, after the implementation of an evaluation and feedback system.

Methods:

Quasi-experimental study with pre- and post-intervention in a tertiary care center in Medellín. The prescriptions of a group of antibiotics were reviewed by an internist, an epidemiologist and an infectologist. When failures were found, prescribing doctors were informed. Subsequently, antibiotic consumption, feedbacks, sepsis diagnosis, start time of antibiotics in the emergency department and monthly incidence of Escherichia coli producing extended spectrum betalactamase were measured.

Results:

The numbers of feedbacks decreased from 10.9% to 2%. Consumption of ceftriaxone (p = 0.04), piperacillin tazobactam (p = 0.01), cefepime (p = 0.04) and ciprofloxacin (p = 0.01) was reduced. There was a tendency to reduce the prevalence of E. coli ESBL. The intervention did not cause a delay in the start of antibiotics in the emergency department.

Conclusions:

A strategy of continuous feedback to general practitioners regarding the quality of antibiotic prescription reduces consumption of antibiotics without causing changes in diagnosis opportunity or the beginning of antibiotics in sepsis and can impact favorably the resistance profile of the institutional microbial flora.

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