Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title ‘Unprecedented’ update to antibiotic guidelines Degree of recognition National Media name/outlet NewsGP Media type Web Country/Territory Australia Date 31/03/25 Description The first tranche of a major update from Therapeutic Guidelines has been released, with a focus on infections treated in primary care....
Professor Mark Morgan, Chair of RACGP Expert Committee – Quality Care, said there is an increasing need for clinical practice guidelines to have regular updates to keep up with scientific medical advances.
He described Therapeutic Guidelines as the ‘go-to resource for antibiotic use’ in Australia.
‘For antibiotic use there is also a changing landscape of resistance patterns and regional or seasonal variations exist,’ he told newsGP.
‘This means that GPs ideally need to check guidelines regularly to see if there have been changes.
‘This takes time, which is problematic when every minute counts for patient care.’
Professor Morgan said the list of changes and new content included in the updated guidelines is ‘extensive’ and unlikely to be memorised.
‘There is value in ensuring GPs have access to Therapeutic Guidelines whenever and wherever GPs provide healthcare,’ he said.
‘Access can be very clunky if it involves logging into training portals, institutional subscriptions or academic library services.’
Noting that some GPs access Therapeutic Guidelines via a mobile app which updates regularly, Professor Morgan also said there is a wider, untapped potential for technological innovations to help.
‘Dissemination of information about changes is important,’ he said.
‘News articles and landing pages aside, there is a burning need for slick computer decision support to pop up the relevant information at the moment of need.’
Professor Morgan said he now hopes it is not long before artificial intelligence (AI) scribes are linked with computer decision support to provide ‘contextual pop ups from trusted sources’.
‘I don’t want computer decision support to tell me what to do – but I would like it to provide excellent information from accepted guidelines better than my fallible memory,’ he said.
‘At the moment AI scribes have a tendency to fill in blanks by making stuff up which is of course risky.’Producer/Author Jolyon Attwooll URL https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/unprecedented-update-to-antibiotic-guidelines?utm_source=racgpnewsgpnewsletter&utm_campaign=newsgpedm&utm_medium=email Persons Mark Morgan