Pediatric urgent care clinicians from 30 sites in 18 states and Washington D.C. are collaborating to reduce differences in antibiotic prescribing among sociodemographic groups. The Reducing Difference in Urgent Care Encounters (REDUCE) national collaborative started in April 2023 and is led by Drs. Amanda Nedved (Pediatric Urgent Care) and Rana El Feghaly (Infectious Diseases) from Children’s Mercy Kansas City.
Multiple studies have demonstrated differences in rates of antibiotic prescribing across race, ethnicity, language and insurance groups in different care settings including urgent care. The reason behind these differences has not been well-studied. This collaborative spent the first few months discussing possible barriers to equitable antibiotic prescribing while collecting baseline data.
Starting in September 2023, monthly webinars have featured national experts from across the country to speak on a topic related to health equity. First interventions will be starting in late 2023. The formal collaborative will end in October 2024; however, we expect the lessons learned from this work to have a great impact on health equity and the work to continue at the local levels even after the collaborative has ended.
