AJMC® in the Press, January 12, 2018

Modern Medicine’s article on antibiotic stewardship programs cited a study published in The American Journal of Managed Care^® (AJMC^®) when discussing the value of the programs. The study, “Improving Antibiotic Stewardship: A Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial,” found that using computer alerts to inform doctors when antibiotics may not be the best course of treatment led to a 22% improvement in the odds of prescribing antibiotics. The authors concluded that clinical decision software integrated in an electronic health record can discourage inappropriate antibiotic prescribing and will likely change diagnostic patterns.

Another Modern Medicine article centered on the AJMC^®-published article, “The Role of Direct Oral Anticoagulants in the Management of Venous Thromboembolism.” The article reported that, compared with warfarin, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) provide a more predictable anticoagulant response, fewer drug interactions, significantly less risk of hemorrhagic stroke, no monitoring requirements, and short half-lives. However, there are many patients for whom DOACs are not suitable. According to the author, patients with liver disease, coagulopathy, severe kidney disease, or cancer should not receive DOACs.