Many, if not most, community hospitals in the United States lack sufficient resources and trained personnel to reduce ineffective, suboptimal, or unnecessary antimicrobial use in hospitalized patients. Such antimicrobial use is expensive and has the potential to cause patient harm directly (via adverse effects and healthcare-associated infections such as C. difficile infection) and indirectly (via the promotion of widespread antimicrobial resistance).
DASON exists to help community hospitals address these issues by developing an evidence-based, state-of-the art antimicrobial stewardship network.
In order to achieve its aims, DASON focuses on three primary areas of service:
- data collection, analysis, feedback and integration
- educational initiatives
- expert consultation