Welcome to the Los Angeles County (LAC) Department of Public Health (DPH) Antibiotic Use (AU) Dashboard. This dashboard provides summaries of aggregated countywide antibiotic use expressed as adult and pediatric SAARs (Standardized Antimicrobial Administration Ratio) and adult, pediatric and neonatal antibiotic DOTs (antibiotic days of therapy per 1000 days present). Monitoring antibiotic use using national benchmarks and local county comparisons is useful to assess the impact of antibiotic stewardship programs.
The footnotes below provide guidance on navigating the dashboard, along with definitions and helpful information about the SAAR.
Footnotes
Navigating the Antibiotic Use dashboard:
Tabs across the top of the dashboard can be used to navigate to various pages of the dashboard.
Multiple selections can be made within the filters for population, time period, SAAR type, or antibiotic by clicking on the desired selection. The selected information will display in various graph or tables.
Hover the curser over graphs for additional views of the numeric data points.
Full page views of graphs and filters are available by clicking above the upper right corner.
Dashboard Definitions
Antibiotic DOTs: Antibiotic days of therapy per 1000 days present
SAAR: Standardized antimicrobial administration ratio
SAAR type: Adult and Pediatric antibiotic category – location combinations (e.g., adult antifungals in ICU)
SAAR Aggregate: SAAR antibiotic category where SAAR locations are combined
SAAR Trend: SAAR type tracked over time by quarter or year
SAAR Antimicrobial Category Definitions:
BSHO: Broad-spectrum antibiotics used for hospital-onset infections
BSCA: Broad-spectrum antibiotics used for community-onset infections
GramPos: Antibiotics used to treat infections caused by resistant gram-positive bacteria
NSBL: Narrow-spectrum beta-lactam antibiotics
CDI: Antibiotics that pose the highest risk for infections caused by C. difficile
Antifungal: Antifungals used for invasive candidiasis
Data Source:
Includes LA County acute care facilities in active participation with the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Antibiotic Use (AU) Module. Hospital participation has been voluntary to date. Starting in 2026, antibiotic use data submission to NHSN will be mandatory unless an exception is granted. Each tab displays the number of facilities that contributed antibiotic use data. Contributing facilities varies according to the population, time period, and/or antibiotic use measure selected. Rates and ratios based on data from fewer than five facilities should be interpreted with caution, as they may be unstable (i.e., less reliable and more likely to vary widely).
NHSN provides public health departments access to antibiotic use data within their jurisdiction. Use is limited to surveillance and outreach purposes only. Data may be subject to changes based on NHSN data quality assurance review and revisions.
The dashboard is prepared by the Antibiotic Stewardship Program at the LAC DPH. For questions, please Email the LAC DPH Antibiotic Stewardship Program at Stewardship@ph.lacounty.gov
Description of the SAAR (Standardized Antimicrobial Administration Ratio)
SAAR = Observed antibiotic use (DOTs) / Predicted antibiotic use (DOTs)
The observed AU is provided by facilities.
The Predicted AU is calculated by NHSN and based on facility features and length of stay data.
The SAAR is a risk ratio where:
A value < 1 indicates observed AU was less than predicted AU
A value = 1 indicates observed AU was equivalent to predicted AU
A value > 1 indicates observed AU was greater than predicted AU
The SAAR provides a national benchmark for the QUANTITY of antibiotics used within a facility. The SAAR does NOT provide information about the appropriateness of antibiotic use within a facility.