Acute Communicable Disease Control

County of Los Angeles
Department of Public Health
Acute Communicable Disease Control
313 N. Figueroa Street, #212
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: (213) 240-7941
Fax: (213) 482-4856
Email:acdc2@ph.lacounty.gov

Have questions about things like where to go for vaccinations or other health care services?

Call 2-1-1.

Note: PDF documents on this site were created using Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or later. If you are using an earlier version of Adobe Acrobat Reader (4.x or less), document functionality may be reduced.

Targeting Appropriate Prescribing in Outpatient Settings (TAP OUT) 

Inappropriate antibiotic use is the primary contributor to the spread of antibiotic resistance. Estimates are that more than 30 percent of antibiotics prescribed in outpatient settings are unnecessary. Primary care clinics and clinicians prescribe approximately half of all outpatient antibiotics in the United States. Outpatient antibiotic prescribing in particular has been demonstrated to be directly associated with antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial stewardship efforts have been shown to be effective to combat inappropriate antimicrobial prescribing, growing microbial resistance, and increasing costs. LACDPH designed its Targeting Appropriate Prescribing in Outpatient Settings (TAP OUT) program to assist ambulatory healthcare settings in Los Angeles County meet the CDC Core Elements of Stewardship through implementation of evidence-based practices.

Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship Training
- Antibiotic Stewardship in the Outpatient Setting  SLIDES
- Tools to Curb Inappropriate Use of Antibiotics  SLIDES
- Appropriate Treatment of Common Infections in Primary Care  SLIDES

Guidelines

	Title	Description
	CDC Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship	The Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship provides a framework for antibiotic stewardship for outpatient clinicians and facilities that routinely provide antibiotic treatment.
	Quality Improvement Organizations Field Guide to Antibiotic Stewardship in Outpatient Settings	This Guide provides a collection of concrete implementation strategies, suggestions, and tools designed, tested, and applied by QIN-QIOs working with a variety of outpatient settings to implement the Core Elements.
	Washington State Department of Health EQuIP for Ambulatory Care Clinics	The purpose of this JumpStart workbook is to provide ambulatory clinics with guidance and tools to plan, implement and maintain a feasible, sustainable ASP tailored to their own unique resources and characteristics.
	MITIGATE Toolkit for Emergency Departments and Urgent Care Settings	This guide outlines how facilities can implement individualized, effective, and practical antimicrobial stewardship programs in acute care (emergency department and urgent care) settings.

Publications
2017 Special Report: Using CDC’s Core Elements of Outpatient Stewardship to improve antibiotic prescribing practices in Los Angeles County 
Public Health Quarterly Connect (for outpatient settings)

External Resources
Health Services Advisory Group Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship
Physicians for a Healthy California Project AWARE

See also
Antimicrobial Stewardship
Outpatient Settings

Contact us
hai@ph.lacounty.gov