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Efforts to curtail inappropriate and excessive antibiotic use, especially for acute respiratory infections, have been only modestly successful. In this study, researchers examined three interventions designed to curb inappropriate prescribing:
An electronic medical record (EMR)–based prompt to consider nonantibiotic alternatives when acute respiratory infection was diagnosed
An EMR-based prompt to enter a free-text justification for prescribing antibiotics
Monthly emails to clinicians in which their prescribing performance was compared with that of “top performers” (i.e., clinicians with the lowest inappropriate prescribing rates)
A total of 248 clinicians (mean age, 48) in 47 primary care practices were randomized to receive one of the above i…