eHealth and mHealth in Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Infectious Diseases
• Public Health

Background:

• Increasing bacterial resistance and limited therapeutic options necessitate rapid diagnostics and effective Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPs).
• Sepsis management critically depends on timely pathogen identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST).

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the role of eHealth and mHealth in ASPs for optimizing infection treatment and antimicrobial use.
• To explore the potential of integrated health technologies in hospital antimicrobial management.

Main Methods:

• Review of current literature on eHealth, mHealth, and ASPs.
• Analysis of technological advancements in diagnostics (molecular, mass spectrometry) and their impact on turnaround times.
• Examination of decision-making complexities in antimicrobial therapy and the role of ASPs.

Main Results:

• Rapid diagnostic methods have significantly reduced turnaround times, improving patient outcomes.
• eHealth and mHealth technologies offer potential to enhance healthcare services, especially in resource-limited settings.
• Integration of antimicrobial prescription data, pharmacotherapeutic algorithms, and laboratory data can reduce costs and improve hospitalization outcomes.

Conclusions:

• ASPs are crucial for managing complex antimicrobial therapy decisions.
• Further exploration and implementation of eHealth and mHealth in hospital ASPs are needed.
• Technological integration holds promise for reducing healthcare costs and improving patient mortality rates.