Objectives To evaluate the impact of adding a mobile health (mHealth) decision support system for antibiotic prescribing to an established antimicrobial stewardship programme (ASP).
Methods In August 2011, the antimicrobial prescribing policy was converted into a mobile application (app). A segmented regression analysis of interrupted time series was used to assess the impact of the app on prescribing indicators using data (2008-2014) from a biannual point prevalence study (PPS) in medicine and surgery wards. There were six data points pre and six data points post-implementation.
Results There was an increase in compliance with policy (e.g. compliance with empirical therapy or expert advice) in medicine (6.48%, CI -1.25—14.20) and surgery (6.63%, CI 0.15—13.10) in the implementation period, with a significant sudden change in level in surgery (p<0.05). There was an increase, though not significant, in medicine (15.20%, CI 17.81—48.22) and surgery (35.97%, -3.72—75.66) in the percentage of prescriptions that had a stop/review date documented. The documentation of indication decreased in both medicine (-16.25%, CI -42.52—10.01) and surgery (-14.62%, CI -42.88—13.63).
Conclusion Introducing the ‘app’ to an existing ASP had a significant impact on the compliance to policy in surgery, and a positive but not significant effect on documentation of stop/review date in both specialties. The negative effect on the third indicator may have been due to existing ASP efforts. The broader value of providing an antimicrobial policy on a digital platform e.g. the reach and access to the policy, should be measured using indicators more sensitive to mHealth interventions.