Nudging empiric prescribing: Embedding antimicrobial stewardship program order sets into a general medicine admission order set

The use of facility-specific clinical practice guidelines and clinical decision-making tools are recommended as part of an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP).1 Clinical decision-making tools are diverse and can include complex computer algorithms, checklists, and electronic order sets.2 They have been shown to improve adherence to evidence-based antibiotic prescribing, reducing unnecessary antibiotic use2-5 and improving appropriateness of therapy.3 Additionally, the use of order sets has been associated with reduced length of hospital stay.4 An environmental scan of our institution’s numerous electronic order sets (EOSs) showed very poor use by clinicians of