By the bioMérieux Connection Editors
Antimicrobial resistance is a continually growing threat, a threat that requires a team of minds working towards one common goal. bioMérieux has created a new webinar series to bring together laboratorians and clinicians to share best practices for optimizing diagnostic data and technology with the goal of preserving antibiotics for future generations.
A key theme of this series is “Diagnostic Stewardship,” which is vital to the success of any antimicrobial stewardship effort. As the misuse of antibiotics greatly exacerbated antibiotic resistance, the misuse of diagnostic tests often leads to the overuse of antibiotics.
Clinical impact starts in the lab. The choice of tests and the speed of reporting results affect data-driven therapy decisions. Together this can have a dramatic impact on patient outcomes and the success of antimicrobial stewardship programs.
The inaugural presentation in this series, which will be held on Thursday, July 11 at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, is titled: “Diagnostic Stewardship is a Key Driver of Antimicrobial Use” and will be given by Victor Leung, MD, FRCPC, Medical Director, Infection Prevention and Control at Providence Health Care, Vancouver.
Dr. Leung will be sharing his innovative approach for improving empiric therapy decisions that combine the speed and accuracy of proper testing options and applied data analytics to deliver the right treatment for the right patient at the right time.
During his presentation, Dr. Leung will describe:
- How under- and over-testing can drive inappropriate antibiotic prescribing
- Clinical scenarios where diagnostic stewardship can help antimicrobial prescribing
- The role of faster diagnostic testing in antimicrobial stewardship
According to the World Health Organization, Diagnostic Stewardship is defined as follows:
“Coordinated guidance and interventions to improve appropriate use of microbiologic diagnostics to guide therapeutic decisions. It should promote appropriate, timely diagnostic testing,…, timely reporting of results to guide patient treatment.”
As an illustration of how to reduce unnecessary testing and why doing so is important, Dr. Leung will review guidance and recommendations for urinary tract infection (UTI) testing implemented at Providence Health Care of Vancouver. While it may seem harmless to over-test a patient, this is not true. Infectious disease testing in the absence of symptoms often leads of false positive test results, which lead to over-diagnosis and the unnecessary use of antibiotics.
Dr. Leung will detail the specifics of both the UTI and C. difficile programs, along with other efforts including cross functional team working and diagnostic test selection considerations at Providence Health Care to reduce the over-use of antimicrobial drugs by implementing diagnostic stewardship.
Professional Acknowledgment for Continuing Education (P.A.C.E.®) credits will be offered for this webinar. For more information and to register, visit: http://go.biomerieux.com/aspwebinars.
Opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of bioMérieux, Inc.
