Michael R. Dueno

This project investigates whether giving pharmacists access to diagnostic information through prescriber consultation could transform community pharmacy into a stewardship powerhouse.

Despite widespread recognition of pharmacists as key antimicrobial stewardship partners, systematic approaches in community pharmacy remain critically undeveloped, with inappropriate antibiotic use approaching 50% of all outpatient prescriptions. Recent surveys reveal that fewer than 28% of pharmacies meet basic CDC stewardship commitment requirements, highlighting an urgent need for practical, scalable implementation strategies. This project directly addresses the fundamental barrier preventing community pharmacy stewardship by developing a workflow that systematically obtains the diagnostic information pharmacists need to provide evidence-based recommendations, transforming the current gap between pharmacist capability and actual practice into actionable stewardship interventions.

I am particularly excited to demonstrate that community pharmacists can effectively practice antimicrobial stewardship when systematic workflows address the diagnostic information barrier, proving that the solution is not more training or capability but rather workflow redesign that enables pharmacists to do what they already know how to do. The Incentive Grant provides critical support for establishing feasibility data that can inform broader policy discussions about requiring diagnostic information on outpatient antibiotic prescriptions, potentially impacting millions of prescriptions annually and contributing meaningfully to national antimicrobial resistance mitigation efforts. Ultimately, I hope to witness this initiative transform community pharmacy practice from passive dispensing to active stewardship partnership, elevating pharmacists from passive dispensers to essential stewards in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.