As part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 6|18 Initiative, Nebraska’s Medicaid agency and Department of Health and Human Services worked together to promote the judicious use of antibiotics in outpatient settings with the goal of reducing inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. The CDC ranks Nebraska eighth highest in the nation for its rate of outpatient antibiotic prescribing. Statewide data combining all payor sources indicate Nebraska has 954 antibiotic prescriptions per 1,000 people, compared to the national average of 793, as of 2017.

This spotlight highlights how Nebraska’s Medicaid agency and the Division of Public Health partnered to share prescribing information between Medicaid claims and evaluation and management codes. In doing so, they sought to determine where targeted education and outreach efforts was needed based on high prescribing rates.