To prepare NYS hospitals for reporting in The National Health Care Safety Network's Antimicrobial Use and Resistance (AUR) Module, the Health care Association of New York State (HANYS) launched a voluntary Antibiotic Stewardship Collaborative (ASC) in late 2015 with 2 aims (1) assist hospitals in developing the infrastructure necessary to track and report antibiotic usage; (2) educate hospitals on antibiotic stewardship. This study evaluates the characteristics of hospitals opting to participate in the ASC and their experiences in the program, as well as the effects of one year of participation (2016) on hospital-acquired C. difficile infection (HA-CDI) rates.

Difference in means testing of clinical and non-clinical characteristics were performed to understand the “type” of hospital joining the ASC; semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand reasons for opting in or out of the ASC and experiences in the program; and a multivariate regression analysis with a difference-in-differences approach was used to assess the impact on HA-CDI rates.

Hospitals with a greater number of annual discharges (P < .001) located in urban areas (P = .03) were more likely to join the ASC. All participants in the ASC (N = 44/184) successfully implemented the necessary infrastructure to track and report antibiotic usage data, despite this being the most cited challenge and main reason hospitals opted not to participate. While HA-CDI rates decreased to a greater extent for participating hospitals (β = -0.153), this was not statistically significant (P = .191).

HANYS’ ASC proved an effective and well-received strategy for encouraging hospitals, particularly large, urban facilities, to take concrete steps to strengthen their antibiotic stewardship efforts and prepare for potential mandates requiring antibiotic usage tracking and reporting. However, a reduction in HA-CDI resulting from these efforts remains to be seen.