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Antibiotic streamlining from combination therapy to monotherapy utilizing an interdisciplinary approach
L L Briceland1, C H Nightingale, R Quintiliani
1Department of Pharmacy Services, Hartford (Conn) Hospital.
Archives of Internal Medicine
|September 1, 1988
Summary
Implementing an antibiotic streamlining program reduced costs by optimizing therapy regimens. This initiative, involving infectious disease physicians and pharmacists, demonstrated significant potential for annual hospital savings.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacoeconomics
- Infectious Diseases
- Hospital Administration
Background:
- Antibiotic therapy often involves complex, high-cost parenteral regimens.
- Streamlining antibiotic use can potentially reduce healthcare expenditures and improve resource allocation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the cost-effectiveness and impact of an antibiotic streamlining program.
- To assess the feasibility of reducing antibiotic therapy complexity and associated hospital costs.
Main Methods:
- Daily data collection on patients receiving multiple parenteral antibiotics.
- Formulation of cost-effective alternative therapy recommendations by infectious disease physicians and clinical pharmacists.
- Physician communication, follow-up monitoring, and cost-saving calculations.
Main Results:
- Recommendations were made for 340 of 625 reviewed patients.
- The rate of necessary streamlining recommendations decreased significantly over seven months, indicating an educational impact.
- Recommendations were followed in 82.6% of cases, with 97.2% completing streamlined therapy.
- Projected annual savings reached $107,637.
Conclusions:
- An antibiotic streamlining program can lead to substantial cost savings.
- Multidisciplinary collaboration is key to successful implementation and adoption of streamlined antibiotic regimens.
- The program demonstrated a positive impact on prescribing habits and hospital finances.