Antimicrobial stewardship programs in inpatient hospital settings: a systematic review.

The purpose of this review is to synthesize the evidence about the effectiveness of antimicrobial stewardship programs implemented in hospital settings the key question: a. Primary Outcome: Patient centered outcomes (30 day readmission, mortality, Clostridium difficile infection, length of stay, adverse effects) b. Secondary Outcomes: 1) Antimicrobial prescribing (timing, use, selection, dose, route, duration); 2) Microbial outcomes (institutional resistance, resistance in study population); 3) Costs (healthcare, program, opportunity, drug)?