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On Feb. 21, 2024, Change Healthcare experienced a cyber security incident. Any individuals impacted by this incident will receive a letter in the mail. Learn more about this from Change Healthcare, or reach out to the contact center at 1-866-262-5342.

Protect Your Patients, Be Antibiotics Aware

Date: 11/13/17

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is urging health-care professionals to prescribe antibiotics only when necessary to help fight antibiotic resistance and the spread of superbugs. To kick off U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week, the CDC launched Be Antibiotics Aware, an educational effort to raise awareness about the importance of safe antibiotic prescribing and use.

The new Be Antibiotics Aware initiative provides resources to help improve antibiotic prescribing among health-care professionals, focusing on prescribing antibiotics only when needed, and at the right dose for the right duration and at the right time. 

CDC’s Be Antibiotics Aware educational effort encourages health-care professionals to:

  1. Follow clinical guidelines when prescribing antibiotics.
  2. Prescribe the right antibiotic, at the right dose, for the right duration and at the right time.
  3. Protect patients by only prescribing antibiotics when they are needed. Providers can do harm by prescribing antibiotics that aren’t needed.
  4. Tell patients why they don’t need antibiotics for a viral infection, what to do to feel better and when to seek care again if they don’t feel better.
  5. Talk to patients and their families about possible harms from antibiotics, such as allergic reactions, C. difficile and antibiotic-resistant infections.
  6. Watch for signs of sepsis, which can be life threatening. If sepsis is suspected, start antibiotics immediately. Signs include confusion or disorientation, shortness of breath, high heart rate, fever, shivering or feeling very cold, extreme pain or discomfort, clammy or sweaty skin.   
  7. Follow hand hygiene and other infection prevention measures with every patient.   

To demonstrate support for this initiative, providers can print, sign and post a Safe Antibiotic Use poster as a commitment to treating illnesses in the best possible way, and avoid prescribing antibiotics when they are likely to do more harm than good. The posters can be placed in provider waiting/exam rooms.

To obtain Be Antibiotics Aware resources to help educate patients and families about antibiotic use and risks for potential side effects, visit: www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use.