De-Implementation of Inappropriate Antimicrobial Use After Cardiac Device Procedures (CIED)

July 17, 2026 updated by: VA Office of Research and Development

Promoting De-Implementation of Inappropriate Antimicrobial Use in Cardiac Device Procedures By Expanding Audit and Feedback

This project will use automated audit and feedback to improve compliance with antimicrobial prophylaxis guidelines for CIED procedures that we anticipate will translate into better outcomes for our patients. A multi-faceted implementation bundle to promote de-implementation of guideline discordant care will be tested at three intervention sites. Materials and tools will then be disseminated throughout the VA healthcare system if the intervention is found to be effective.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Aim I tests the hypothesis that a multi-faceted implementation/deimplementation bundle (I/D) of strategies that includes educational sessions with members of electrophysiology teams and locally-adapted monthly surveillance reports about guideline-concordant pre-procedural antimicrobial use and guideline-discordant post-procedural antimicrobial use, 90-day incidence of CIED infections, and 90-day incidence of C. difficile infections and 7-day incidence of AKI that will be delivered to local infectious diseases champions and shared with electrophysiology teams using blended facilitation will promote uptake of best practices and improve outcomes. This hypothesis incorporates learning/unlearning and fills a major gap caused by the dearth of rigorous de- implementation and de-adoption studies. Aim II tests the hypothesis that electronic health records (EHRs) and medical informatics have advanced to the point that it will be feasible, during the next four years, to establish an audit and feedback surveillance system that can be scaled and disseminated widely across the VA.

This study will use mixed qualitative and quantitative methods to address the study aims. This will include interviews with key stakeholders and quantitative measurement of quality metrics (e.g., pre-and post-procedure antimicrobial use) and outcomes (e.g., cardiac device infections, acute kidney injuries, C. difficile infections).

All patients receiving a cardiac device implantation within the VA healthcare system during the study period may be potentially included. Medical records previously reviewed and accessed may also be included for validation, testing, and optimization of electronic algorithms. In addition to the VA patients who will participate, key stakeholders for infection prevention in the cardiac device laboratory (e.g., providers, nurses, electrophysiology laboratory staff) will also participate in interviews. Active implementation will occur at 3 VA sites receiving the high-intensity I/D bundle. 8 matched control sites will be selected for comparison.

High quality studies establish that prolonged prophylaxis has no beneficial impact on CIED-related infection rates but worsens outcomes and leads to preventable deaths. Despite guidelines specifically recommending against prolonged prophylaxis, this practice is common in cardiac electrophysiology laboratories, including VA and non-VA hospitals. At the same time, antimicrobial resistance and overuse represent critical threats to the health of the population. This intersection - inappropriate prescribing and a critical need to improve use-- creates an urgent need for research into methods to promote adoption of best antimicrobial use and de-implementation of ineffective and harmful prescribing. IT-based solutions for improving antimicrobial use, including antimicrobial prophylaxis, is a quality-improvement strategy endorsed by The Joint Commission. This project will advance this concept and couple learning/unlearning processes to promote uptake of best practices. If effective, this model can be replicated in other settings of care to improve antimicrobial use.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
5469

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02130
        • VA Boston Healthcare System

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • This study is open to any adult VA patient with data about a cardiac device procedure performed in the electrophysiology laboratory entered into the national VA EHR.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Cardiac Device Cohort
The Intervention Arm is receipt of the high-intensity implementation/deimplementation (I/D) bundle (3 sites). Control sites will be matched based on similar practices but not receive the high-intensity I/D bundle.
Other: Chart Review
Intervention sites will receive a multi-faceted implementation intervention, which will include external and internal blended facilitation, education materials for providers and patients, and audit and feedback about practices and outcomes with benchmarking to non-intervention sites.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
cardiac device infection
Time Frame: 90 days
Incidence of cardiac device infections
90 days
C. difficile infections
Time Frame: 90 days
Incidence of C. difficile infections
90 days
Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)
Time Frame: 7 days
Incidence of AKI
7 days
Pre-procedure Antimicrobial Use
Time Frame: 1 day
Proportion of cases with guideline-concordant pre-procedure antimicrobial use defined as appropriate antimicrobials administered within 1 hour prior to incision.
1 day
Post-procedure Antimicrobial Use
Time Frame: 14 days
Proportion of cases with guideline-concordant post-procedure antimicrobial use defined as antibiotics administered for prevention of cardiac device infection (not for pre-existing infection) lasting for greater than 24 hours following the procedure.
14 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
VA Office of Research and Development

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
VA Boston Healthcare System

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Westyn Branch-Elliman, MD, VA Boston Healthcare System

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
October 1, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
August 18, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 18, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 25, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 21, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 17, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • IIR 20-076
  • IRB 1585926 (Other Identifier: VA Boston Healthcare System)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

A de-identified, anonymized dataset will be created and shared upon request and executing a Data Use Agreement (DUA) following VA research regulations, current guidance can be found in Veteran's Health Administration (VHA) Directive 1080.01(1) last updated March 2021.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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