DASON Medical Director, Dr. Shaefer Spires, and DASON Operations Director, Dr. Libby Dodds Ashley, are featured in an editorial, Regarding Collaboration in Antimicrobial Stewardship, in Infectious Disease Clinics of North America.
Clinicians were not meant to practice alone; instead, at best, medicine should be practiced as a team composed of multiple disciplines engendering a collective accountability for patient care. This type of practice highlights the strengths of individual health care professionals and depends on collaboration for success. Successful antimicrobial stewardship embodies this type of multidisciplinary collaboration, beginning with the combined leadership of a pharmacist and physician and drawing in the unique expertise and skillsets of each to build a team pulling from all areas in the health system involving antibiotic use. These key collaborations with nursing, laboratory, administration, and other physicians representing respective specialties comprise the exemplary antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP). In many cases, it is these collaborations that make the difference between successful and failing interventions and programs. These collaborations are the secret to stewardship success.
Check out the full editorial.