HMTS Template Attachment A - Study Population

Health Message Testing System Expedited Review Form

Be Antibiotics Aware Educational Effort – Healthcare Provider Audiences

Attachment A. Study Population

Study population. Based on previous formative research related to the Be Antibiotics Aware (BAA) educational effort and CDC subject matter expert guidance, CDC has developed new or revised educational effort materials and is planning to develop additional educational effort materials for four new healthcare provider (HCP) audiences described in the table below.

HCP Audience	The “Why”	Criteria for eligibility
Hospitalists*	Play an important role in using antibiotics appropriately in in-patient settings, especially related to reassessment of antibiotic therapy.	Licensed MD or DO working as a hospitalist ​ Provides direct patient care (not an administrator)​ Works exclusively in the inpatient setting. ​ Practicing for more than one year​
Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) in nursing home (NH) settings	Provide care for older adults, who are at high risk of antibiotic-related adverse drug events, complications from drug-drug interactions, and increased risk for C. difficile infection. Nurses also play increasingly important roles in antibiotic prescribing.	Licensed MD or DO, PA, NP, or APRN in NHs ​ Provides direct patient care (not an administrator)​ Works primarily in a NHs as FTE or PTE ​
Nurses in NH settings	Provide care for older adults, who are at high risk of antibiotic-related adverse drug events, complications from drug-drug interactions, and increased risk for C. difficile infection. Nurses also play increasingly important roles in antibiotic prescribing.	Licensed RN or DON ​ Works full time in a NH​ Provides direct patient care (not an administrator)​ Front line provider evaluating the resident when there is a change in condition (i.e., primary point of contact for prescribers)​ Practicing for more than 3 years
Dentists	Approximately 9% of antibiotic prescriptions dispensed from community pharmacies are written by dentists. Also, dentists may not be aware of the harms that can occur from antibiotic use, such as C. difficile infection.	Licensed DDS or DMD who provides direct patient care (not administrator) ​ Works in general dentistry setting​ Works in independently owned practice​ or local chain
Community pharmacists	Uniquely positioned to educate patients about antibiotics and provide information about symptom relief for viral infections.	Licensed pharmacist​ Works in community-based/retail pharmacy setting​ Interacts with the public (not an administrator)​

* Existing target audience. Message testing is being done for this existing audience due to current lack of materials for this audience.

The Be Antibiotics Aware educational effort targets healthcare providers in the states with the highest rates of antibiotic prescriptions per 1,000 population, including:

• Alabama

• Arkansas

• Iowa

• Kentucky

• Louisiana

• Mississippi

• Missouri

• Nebraska

• Tennessee

• West Virginia

This proposed research is being done in parallel with similar materials testing research with corresponding consumer audiences for the Be Antibiotics Aware educational effort (OMB package under review). The study population for the work proposed here was selected to align with the geographic sampling frame for the consumer research.

Screening and recruitment. CDC, and their contractor ICF, will partner with a professional recruitment firm to contact the potential participants by phone, and with their permission, use the screener to determine eligibility, interest, and availability for each interview. The recruitment firm will recruit HCPs on a rolling basis for up to nine interviews per audience segment.​ After completing the screener and confirming the individual agrees to participate, the recruitment firm will send a confirmation letter to the email address provided by the participant. The day before the interview, the recruitment firm will contact the participant via phone call and/or text to remind them about the interview. The recruitment firm will also send the participant the informed consent form to review, sign, and return prior to the interview; provide the web conferencing platform for the online interview; manage the recordings; and manage the distribution of participant incentives. Lastly, the firm will update ICF and the CDC on the number and demographics of individuals recruited using unique identifiers to protect the confidentiality of potential participants. This is to guide decision-making related to future recruiting in order to ensure a mix of demographics (age, gender, race/ethnicity, etc.) across all participants.​

Attachment A 1