Hospitals are required to have antibiotic stewardship programs, but many don’t have access to an on-site infectious disease specialist to lead, or co-lead, them. Despite a severe shortage of infectious disease specialists, The Joint Commission, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services prescribe rigorous standards and requirements for hospital-based antibiotic stewardship programs.
The national shortage of Infectious Disease specialists makes traditional staffing models impractical, particularly for rural and community hospitals. The result is a growing gap between stewardship expectations and the resources available to meet them.
Virtual infectious disease expertise provides a practical way to close that gap. Through teleInfectious Disease–supported antibiotic stewardship programs, hospitals can meet regulatory and accreditation requirements while reducing antibiotic use and controlling costs—without adding operational complexity.
See how the Access TeleCare team partners with hospital leaders, pharmacists, and clinicians to operationalize formal antibiotic stewardship programs.
Why Antibiotic Stewardship Is Different from Bedside Consult
Antibiotic stewardship is not the same as bedside infectious disease consultation. While Infectious Disease physicians play a critical role in individual patient care, determining when antibiotics are needed and selecting the appropriate agent, stewardship programs focus on system-wide oversight.
Formal stewardship programs are designed to shape how antibiotics are used across an entire hospital. They establish protocols, monitor prescribing patterns, review outcomes, and continuously refine practices to ensure antibiotics are used appropriately and consistently.
As Jade Le, M.D., chief of infectious disease at Access TeleCare, explains, antibiotic stewardship isn’t about managing one patient at a time. It’s about designing a system that ensures every patient on antibiotics is receiving the right drug, at the right dose, for the right duration.
“Stewardship is about building a framework that ensures every patient on antibiotics is getting the right therapy, for the right reason, for the right duration, regardless of where they are in the hospital, said Dr. Le.
How Telemedicine Makes It Scalable
Through Access TeleCare’s teleInfectious Disease–supported stewardship programs, board-certified Infectious Disease physicians partner closely with on-site pharmacists and clinical leaders to design, implement, and maintain Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs.
This model allows hospitals to:
- Meet Joint Commission, CDC, and CMS stewardship requirements
- Provide Infectious Disease Physician-led stewardship even without on-site specialists
- Support pharmacists with real-time expert guidance
- Reduce unnecessary broad-spectrum antibiotic use
- Lower pharmacy costs and lengths of stay
Rather than replacing local teams, telemedicine strengthens them, bringing consistent infectious disease leadership into daily decision-making.
From Individual Care to System-Level Impact
Formal stewardship programs extend infectious disease expertise beyond individual consults. ID physicians help hospitals analyze prescribing trends, identify improvement opportunities, and implement changes that affect care across departments and service lines.
“When stewardship is done well, the impact is cumulative,” said Chris Gallagher, M.D., founder and chief strategy officer. “You’re not just improving outcomes for one patient; you’re improving antibiotic use for hundreds or thousands of patients over time.”
This system-level approach makes antibiotic stewardship one of the most effective tools hospitals have to combat antibiotic overuse, resistance, and unnecessary cost.
