By Katie Sandlin, Associate Product Manager, Microbiology IT Solutions and Margaret Moriarty, Product Manager, Blood Culture
In the second installment of bioMérieux’s 2020 On the Frontlines webinar series, Christopher Bland, Pharm.D., FCCP, FIDSA, BCPS, will discuss best practices for collaboration between pharmacists, microbiology staff, and prescribers to maximize antimicrobial stewardship outcomes when managing bacteremia.
This webinar will showcase a variety of patient scenarios and their associated key clinical outcomes as it relates to rapid blood culture diagnostic testing. Dr. Bland will also detail how rapid diagnostic testing can be successfully integrated into antimicrobial stewardship programs.
A study published in American Journal of Infection Control in June 2019 found that combining rapid blood culture identification (BCID) testing with antimicrobial stewardship initiatives yielded a decrease in broad spectrum antibiotic use. Additionally, BCID combined with antibiotic stewardship resulted in rapid antibiotic adjustment (average 25 hours sooner) and decreased length of stay for patients with bacteremia.
Now more than ever, effective collaboration across hospital systems and healthcare functions is of the utmost importance to help manage pandemic response efforts. Antimicrobial stewardship programs are likely to have pre-existing infection prevention experience and can play a crucial role in helping prevent the emergence of drug resistance throughout the pandemic.
The On the Frontlines webinar series was created specifically for antimicrobial stewardship teams, bringing together laboratorians and clinicians to share best practices for optimizing diagnostic data and technology with the goal of preserving antibiotics for future generations. The next webinar in the series, “The Convergence of Microbiology and Pharmacy to Enhance Antibiotic Stewardship with Bloodstream Infections: The Need for Speed” will occur on September 10 at 1 PM ET. To register for the webinar, click the button below!
Opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of bioMérieux, Inc.
