The NAPS is a targeted deep dive audit into the quality of antimicrobial prescribing in the hospital and aged care setting. Deveolped at NCAS and the Royal Melbourne Hospital the NAPS can be performed in a range of settings; Hospital, Aged Care, Surgical, QI and now the NCIC co-developed Antifungal NAPS.
We would like to invite Australian hospitals to participate in the 2024 national benchmarked Antifungal NAPS audit.
Fluconazole targeted Antifungal NAPS audit
We have identified that fluconazole is the most commonly prescribed systemic antifungal agent in Australian hospitals with the highest rate of inappropriate prescribing.
This year we are conducting a fluconazole targeted audit utilising the Antifungal NAPS tool, to allow a deep dive analysis of prescribing quality in order to identify key areas for quality improvement.
What is being audited? All patients initiated on fluconazole in your facility
What time period to audit? 1st January to 31st March 2024
How many prescriptions should be audited? All patients initiated on fluconazole during the audit period (up to 50 prescriptions).
How is the Antifungal NAPS different?
A deep dive audit to assess each phase of prescribing (prophylaxis, empiric, directed)
Assess prescribing according to risk of invasive fungal infection
New quality & outcome metrics specific for antifungal prescribing and invasive fungal infection
What will your hospital gain by participating?
Optimise quality of antifungal prescribing for your patients; reduce toxicity, manage drug-drug interactions, ensure usage is appropriate
Benchmark performance against similar hospitals
Note: Antifungal NAPS can be used for any other audit type in your hospital all year round but only fluconazole prescriptions will be incorporated in the 2024 benchmarking reports.
Professor Graeme Forrest
Professor of Medicine within the Division of Infectious Diseases at Rush University Medical Center, working with the Transplant Infectious Disease team.
Prof Forrest graduated from The University of Adelaide, Australia in 1990. His Internal Medicine Residency was at Columbus Hospital in Chicago, with Chief Resident year at St Joseph Hospital in Chicago. His Infectious Disease fellowship was at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, where he continued as faculty working on the Transplant Infectious Disease service as well as director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship program. He then moved to the VA Portland Healthcare System and Oregon Health and Science University to continue work on Antimicrobial Stewardship and Transplant Infectious Diseases, where he worked for 12 years until moving to Rush University in Chicago.
His work has focused on fungal infection in transplant recipients, including Cryptococcus gattii and moulds. Reducing antibiotic resistance with effective antibiotic stewardship in transplant recipients has also been a major focus. He have over 80 publications, 100 abstracts and 7 book chapters.