Improved antimicrobial interventions have benefits

Area of Science:

• Clinical Pharmacy
• Health Informatics
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Antimicrobial therapy interventions can improve patient outcomes.
• Effective interventions require timely access to susceptibility testing data.
• Current manual processes for reviewing susceptibility data can be inefficient.

Purpose of the Study:

• To prospectively evaluate the impact of an improved intervention program.
• To assess the effectiveness of TheraTrac 2 software for electronic linkage of susceptibility results.
• To determine the effect of pharmacist education on microbiologic topics.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study comparing a new intervention group with a control group.
• Study group utilized TheraTrac 2 software for immediate electronic access to susceptibility data.
• Control group used manual review of hard-copy susceptibility testing data.
• Three analyses were performed: intervention-only, diagnosis-related group (DRG) matched, and severity-adjusted DRG matched.

Main Results:

• Analysis B (DRG-matched) showed a statistically significant decrease in length of stay (2.7 days, P=0.035) and variable direct costs ($2,626, P=0.008).
• Analysis C (severity-adjusted DRG-matched) indicated reduced length of stay (1.2 days) and variable direct costs ($1,466).
• While not statistically significant in Analysis A, the study group showed trends towards decreased mortality and length of stay.

Conclusions:

• The implementation of the TheraTrac 2 program resulted in substantial cost savings.
• Improved antimicrobial stewardship through technology and education can enhance efficiency.
• Further research may be warranted to confirm impact on mortality rates.