From guidelines to practice: a pharmacist-driven prospective audit and feedback improvement model for peri-operative antibiotic prophylaxis in 34 South African hospitals

Background: Few data exist on the implementation of process measures to facilitate adherence to perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis (PAP) guidelines in Africa. Objectives: To implement an improvement model for PAP utilizing existing resources, in order to achieve a reduction in surgical site infections (SSIs) across a heterogeneous group of 34 urban and rural South African hospitals. Methods: A pharmacist-driven, prospective audit and feedback strategy involving change management and improvement principles was utilized. This 2.5 year intervention involved a pre-implementation phase to test a PAP guideline and a 'toolkit' at pilot sites. Following antimicrobial stewardship committee and clinician endorsement, the model was introduced in all institutions and a survey of baseline SSI and compliance rates with four process measures (antibiotic choice, dose, administration time and duration) was performed. The post-implementation phase involved audit, intervention and monthly feedback to facilitate improvements in compliance. Results: For 70 weeks of standardized measurements and feedback, 24 206 surgical cases were reviewed. There was a significant improvement in compliance with all process measures (composite compliance) from 66.8% (95% CI 64.8-68.7) to 83.3% (95% CI 80.8-85.8), representing a 24.7% increase (P < 0.0001). The SSI rate decreased by 19.7% from a mean group rate of 2.46 (95% CI 2.18-2.73) pre-intervention to 1.97 post-intervention (95% CI 1.79-2.15) (P = 0.0029). Conclusions: The implementation of process improvement initiatives and principles targeted to institutional needs utilizing pharmacists can effectively improve PAP guideline compliance and sustainable patient outcomes.