Hospital and Physician Update

November – December 2020

Study: Too many COVID-19 patients got unneeded antibiotics

Using data from 38 hospitals taking part in a statewide effort called Mi-COVID19, which leverages the power of multiple Collaborative Quality Initiatives sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a study found that too many COVID-19 patients got unneeded antibiotics.

This study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, by a team from the University of Michigan, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and St. Joseph Mercy Health Care System, provides the first findings emanating from the Mi-COVID19 registry.

The study, which looked at 1,705 patients, found that more than half of patients hospitalized with suspected COVID-19 in Michigan during the state’s early peak months of the pandemic received antibiotics soon after they arrived in case they might have a bacterial infection in addition to the virus. But testing showed that 96.5% of them only had the coronavirus, which antibiotics don’t treat.

Only 3.5% of the patients who arrived at the hospital had both COVID-19 and a bacterial infection. Faster testing and understanding of infection risk factors could help hospital teams determine who those patients are, the study suggests, and spare the rest of the COVID-19 patients the risks that come with the overuse of antibiotics.

For more information

• To read more about the study, check out this blog* by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.

• To learn more about Mi-COVID19, check out this blog on MI Blues Perspectives and the article in the May – June 2020 issue of Hospital and Physician Update.

*Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan doesn’t own or control this website.

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