July 20, 2015
A study suggests that differences in the routines of individual providers drives variation in antibiotic prescribing more than differences in patient characteristics, standards of practice at different hospitals, or clinical settings (emergency department, primary care, urgent care). The report, led by the Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System and the University of Utah and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, is an important step toward understanding the problem of antibiotic overuse, a major public health concern given the rise in antibiotic-resistant “superbugs”.