Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care has been honored by the Healthcare Association of New York State with a Pinnacle Award for Quality and Patient Safety. Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care was recognized for its Implementation of an Antibiotic Stewardship Program Across a Large-scale Urgent Care Network.
Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care began an antibiotic stewardship program in 2019 to monitor and improve the way antibiotics are prescribed by doctors and taken by patients. Within the first year of the program, the network’s 54 urgent care sites had shown a 21 percent drop in antibiotic use, equating to 167,000 fewer antibiotic prescriptions.
The stewardship program effectively safeguards patients from antibiotic resistance, side effects and medical costs.
“An antibiotic stewardship is really about getting the right medication to the right patient at the right time for the right diagnosis” said Dr. Neal Shipley, medical director at Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care. “At Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care, our commitment to patient safety and clinical quality helped drive this change in culture across our entire network.”
The Pinnacle Award for Quality and Patient Safety, recognizes successful quality improvement and innovative patient safety initiatives in four categories based on organization size and type. Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care is the first of four winners to be announced.
