Antimicrobial stewardship program in a Greek hospital: implementing a mandatory prescription form and prospective audits.

Aim: Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) are urgently needed for Greek hospitals in order to improve antibiotic usage.

Patients & Methods: An ASP was implemented to a Greek hospital since February 2014. A mandatory order form was introduced for five antimicrobials; colistin, tigecycline, daptomycin, doripenem and linezolid. Prospective audits allowed for feedback to the prescribers without direct prescribing restriction.

Results: Antimicrobials' consumption at the baseline year and the 3 years of ASP implementation was 93.7, 99.1, 156.1 and 105.9 defined daily doses/1000 patient days, respectively (p > 0.05). No statistically significant difference in isolation rates of multidrug-resistant pathogens was detected.

Conclusion: Efforts are required to demonstrate the long-term impact of our program on antibiotic prescription attitudes as well as antimicrobial resistance rates.