Derivation and Validation of an Electronic Health Record Penicillin Allergy De-Labeling Prevalence Measure

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39708368/ Algorithms Use Electronic Health Records To Track Penicillin Delabeling Because most patients with a documented penicillin allergy label do not have a true allergy, “delabeling” those who can safely take associated antibiotics can improve outcomes and slow the development of antimicrobial resistance. Funded with AHRQ support, two novel algorithms described in Clinical Infectious Diseases have shown accuracy in tracking the prevalence of delabeling through electronic health records. While both performed equally well when compared against a human expert review, the simpler algorithm that does not require free-text or manual review achieved 100 percent sensitivity. The algorithms were tested using over 77,000 records at two Boston-based health systems and successfully found a 6.8 percent delabeling rate, highlighting the potential use of the simpler variant for quality improvement and for other projects, as well as the importance of further strategies to improve effective delabeling. Access the abstract.