2020 Gage Award Honorable Mention | Parkland - Improved Access to Penicillin Allergy Testing

Although penicillin allergy is the most reported drug allergy nationwide, approximately 90 percent of history-positive patients actually tolerate penicillin. Patients who report a penicillin allergy receive higher doses of other antibiotics and have higher health care-associated infection rates. Through a section 1115 Medicaid waiver, Parkland trained pharmacists to work with allergists to conduct penicillin allergy testing. In four years, Parkland tested 961 patients compared with 22 patients the four years prior; of these patients, 92.5 percent were allergy free.