Complex Hospital-Based Electronic Prescribing–Based Intervention to Support Antimicrobial Stewardship: Qualitative Study

Background Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a growing concern for public health. Objective We sought to explore the challenges associated with development and implementation of a complex intervention designed to improve AMS in hospitals. Methods We conducted a qualitative evaluation of a complex AMS intervention with educational, behavioral, and technological components in 5 wards of an English hospital. At 2 weeks and 7 weeks after initiating the intervention, we interviewed 25 users of the intervention, including senior and junior prescribers, a senior nurse, a pharmacist, and a microbiologist. Topics discussed included perceived impacts of different elements of the intervention and facilitators and barriers to effective use. Interviews were supplemented by 2 observations of ward rounds to gain insights into AMS practices. Data were audio-recorded, transcribed, and inductively and deductively analyzed thematically using NVivo12. Results Tracing the adoption and impact of the various components of the intervention was difficult, as it had been introduced into a setting with competing pressures. These particularly affected behavioral and educational components (eg, training, awareness-building activities), which were often delivered ad hoc. We found that the participatory intervention design had addressed typical use cases but had not catered for edge cases that only became visible when the intervention was delivered in real-world settings (eg, variations in prescribing workflows across different specialties and conditions). Conclusions Effective user-focused design of complex interventions to promote AMS can support acceptance and use. However, not all requirements and potential barriers to use can be fully anticipated or tested in advance of full implementation in real-world settings.