A Multifaceted Intervention to Improve Prescribing for Acute Respiratory Infection for Adults and Children in Emergency Department and Urgent Care Settings

In this proposed acute care project, the investigators will compare a package consisting of
education for providers using existing materials from Center for Disease Control and
Prevention's (CDC) GetSmart campaign adapted for the acute care setting led by a physician
champion at each site (the adapted intervention), to a more intensive intervention that
incorporates adapted GetSmart materials enhanced with individualized audit and feedback, peer
comparisons, and behavioral nudges (the enhanced intervention). The comparative effectiveness
of the enhanced intervention will be evaluated in a multicenter cluster randomized trial
nested within a quasi-experimental study of acute care stewardship. The investigators'
hypothesis is that both interventions will reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for
antibiotic nonresponsive acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in emergency departments and
urgent care centers, but that the enhanced one will be more effective. The investigators will
use an interrupted time series study design to measure the impact of their interventions
against the baseline period of usual care as well as against seasonally-adjusted historical
controls. The cluster randomized design for the two types of acute care stewardship
interventions will allow measurement of the difference- in-differences in antibiotic
prescribing rates for acute bronchitis, acute bronchiolitis, viral pharyngitis, influenza,
and nonspecific upper respiratory infection (URI). Translation of proven behavioral
techniques is a new and innovative approach to improving prescribing decisions. This project
will expand stewardship to a new setting using innovative and effective approaches including
the adaptation of behavioral techniques for emergency department (ED) and urgent care
settings. The investigators will also further establish their research group as a network for
developing novel tools, measuring outcomes for antimicrobial stewardship, and disseminating
research findings through acute care setting-specific toolkits.

Clinicians will be eligible for the study if they meet the following Inclusion Criteria:

1. Must be a clinician at one of the study sites.

2. Must treat adult and/or pediatric patients with an acute respiratory infections.

Individual patient encounters will be ineligible for analysis if they meet any of the
following Exclusion Criteria:

1. Medical co-morbidities that make acute respiratory infection (ARI) guidelines less
likely to apply.

2. Concomitant visit diagnoses indicating a non-ARI possible bacterial infection.

3. Concomitant visit diagnoses indicating potentially antibiotic appropriate ARI.
diagnoses or other ARI diagnoses suggestive of a bacterial infection.

4. Visit occurred within 30 days of an earlier ARI diagnosis.