An AI-enabled clinical decision-support tool was associated with improved antibiotic prescribing at rural and remote hospitals in Western Australia, although a considerable number of health services reported little or no sustained use, an independent evaluation found.
Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) found that hospitals using Clinical Branches, also known as Antimicrobial Pathways (AMPS), saw better prescribing appropriateness and guideline compliance than at non-adopter hospitals.
Researchers compared 3,917 audited antibiotic prescriptions from three adopter and five non-adopter hospitals, alongside usage data from all 68 sites and interviews with 30 clinicians and other stakeholders.
The evaluation found that prescribing appropriateness and guideline compliance were 20.8 and 21.8 percentage points higher, respectively, at adopter hospitals after adjustment.
Clinicians reported that the tool helped them confirm prescribing choices, make evidence-based decisions and practise with greater confidence when specialist advice was unavailable.
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