Reducing Mortality and Advancing Antimicrobial Stewardship through Fast Antibiotic Susceptibility Results for Bloodstream Infections

Reducing Mortality and Advancing Antimicrobial Stewardship through Fast Antibiotic Susceptibility Results for Bloodstream Infections:

Preliminary data suggest the rate of sepsis mortality, as a percentage of overall deaths, is dropping at University Health Care System (UHCS) in Augusta, GA. Recently the health system implemented a strategy of combining faster diagnostics to enhance their antibiotic stewardship program in addition to real-time communication to clinicians. Over a period of 12-months, UHCS measured both the time patients had a bloodstream infection and the mortality rates associated with them.