Across the northwestern United States, small, rural, and critical access hospitals are being called upon to respond to the issues of antimicrobial overuse and rising antimicrobial resistance. At the same time, these sites often lack the time and resources to tackle these problems. The University of Washington Tele-Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (UW TASP) addresses this by empowering individuals and teams working on antimicrobial stewardship by providing education, mentoring, community building, and resource sharing. By combining the resources available in an urban academic setting with the expertise of rural health providers, antimicrobial stewardship (AS) program implementation can be accelerated.

UW TASP moves beyond traditional telehealth models by combining weekly telehealth video conferences with asynchronous tele-mentoring, site visits, capacity building by email and telephone, remote grand rounds and noon conferences, and document sharing between facilities. Core weekly sessions are structured through case discussions and bring together UW infectious disease (ID) physicians, ID pharmacists, nurses, and clinical microbiologists to empower providers through infectious disease and stewardship education. Up to 48 hours of CME, CNE, and pharmacy CE credits are available.