From Screening to Antibiotic Stewardship
Laboratory professionals are in the position to move an automated PCT solution into their hospitals and healthcare networks, where the tests are being used to evaluate patients that present with a suspected infection, to monitor their progress, help guide their treatment, and prevent overprescription of antibiotics. Results are already being quantified: In one study, researchers found that using PCT to screen patients on the first day of their ICU hospitalization reduced stays14 by an average of 1.2 days and saved an average of $2,759 in total hospitalization and pharmacy costs per patient.
At Five Rivers Medical Center in Arkansas, Michael Broyles, head of clinical pharmacy and lab services, led a study15 comparing the effectiveness of sepsis treatment before and after PCT was introduced to guide antibiotic decision-making. Focusing on key benchmarks, this study found that length of hospitalization decreased by 47%, inhospital mortality went down by 62%, and 30-day readmission levels were halved.
At the University of California San Diego, a cross-disciplinary team that included lab professionals, cardiologists, and clinicians, led the move to implement use of PCT assays within the hospital, and a formal program was recently introduced.
Media reports show that other hospitals and healthcare systems are also achieving dramatic improvements in patient outcome using PCT, citing programs16 at hospitals that include Bronson Methodist Hospital in Michigan and New York Presbyterian. One unexpected benefit that the automated platforms have brought is the potential for a hospital to be able to invest in and use the same instrumentation to run PCT testing as well as other tests, such as high-sensitivity troponin assays, which are helping a growing number of physicians pinpoint patients suffering a heart attack with greater precision.
Whether helping to guide antibiotic decision making or staving off over-perscription of antibiotics, PCT promises to play a growing role in saving lives and reducing the cost and time devoted to managing this deadly condition.