Impact of Society of Hospital Medicine workshops on hospitalists' knowledge and perceptions of health care–associated infections and antimicrobial resistance†

BACKGROUND Health care–associated infections and antimicrobial resistance threaten the safety of hospitalized patients. New prevention strategies are necessary to address these problems. In response, the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed and conducted workshops to educate hospitalists about conducting quality improvement programs to address antimicrobial resistance and health care–associated infections in hospitalized patients. METHODS SHM collected and analyzed data from pretests and posttests administered to physicians who attended SHM workshops in 2005 in 1 of 3 major cities: Denver, Colorado; Boston, Massachusetts; or Portland, Oregon. RESULTS A total of 69 SHM members attended the workshops, and 50 completed both a pretest and a posttest. Scores on the knowledge-based questions increased significantly from pretest to posttest (x = 48% vs. 63%, P < .0001); however, perceptions of the problem of antimicrobial resistance did not change. Most participants (85%) rated the quality of the workshop as “very good” or “excellent” and rated the workshop sessions as “useful” (x = 3.9 on a 5.0 scale). CONCLUSIONS Hospitalists who attended the SHM workshop increased their knowledge of health care–associated infections, antimicrobial resistance, and quality improvement programs related to these issues. Similar workshops should be considered in efforts to prevent health care–associated infections and antimicrobial resistance. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2007;2:268–273. © 2007 Society of Hospital Medicine.