Antibiotic cost reduction by providing cost information.

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Infectious Disease Management
• Clinical Informatics

Background:

• Rising antibiotic expenditures pose a significant financial challenge in healthcare settings.
• Effective cost-management strategies are crucial for sustainable antibiotic use.
• Integrating financial data into clinical workflows can influence prescribing behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of providing real-time antibiotic cost information alongside microbiology results on antibiotic expenditure.
• To quantify the changes in average monthly antibiotic costs, cost per admission, and cost per hospital day.
• To identify departments with the highest and lowest antibiotic cost savings.

Main Methods:

• Antibiotic cost data was integrated into the computerized microbiology culture results print-out for patients.
• A comparative analysis was conducted between a six-month study period and the preceding twelve-month period.
• Key metrics analyzed included average monthly antibiotic cost, cost per admission, and cost per hospital day.

Main Results:

• Average monthly antibiotic costs decreased by 16.5% ($7636).
• Average antibiotic cost per admission fell by 15.7% ($1.61), and cost per hospital day decreased by 10.6% ($0.23).
• Highest savings were observed in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (21.7%), lowest in Paediatrics (10.8%); house-staff initiated two-thirds of savings.

Conclusions:

• Providing immediate antibiotic cost information alongside susceptibility data is an effective strategy for reducing antibiotic expenditure.
• The intervention demonstrated significant cost savings across various hospital departments.
• Further research is needed to assess the effect of this cost-awareness system on the overall quality of medical care.