The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2017 report Antibiotic Use in the United States: Progress and Opportunities embraces urgent care as an active participant in both healthcare delivery and antibiotic stewardship more than ever before. The CDC notes that urgent care has experienced “tremendous growth” and that continuing to incorporate antibiotic stewardship as a core value “will be an important factor in optimizing antibiotic use.”
To support those efforts, the CDC put together The Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship in Outpatient Settings last year, while also partnering with large healthcare systems to monitor and improve antibiotic use. Overall, the report notes that there has been progress in more responsible antibiotic prescribing across settings—but maintains “there are many opportunities to improve,” with 30% of antibiotic prescriptions written in outpatient clinics being unnecessary (though they decreased by 5% between 2011 and 2014).