48 - Association of Rapid Pathogen Identification and Pharmacist Intervention on Time to Optimal Antimicrobial Therapy for Bloodstream Infections at Two Community Hospitals

Background: As many as 1 in 3 patients with bloodstream infections at community hospitals receive inappropriate empiric antimicrobial therapy. Studies have shown that the coupling of real-time intervention with rapid pathogen identification improves patient outcomes and decreases health-system costs at large, tertiary academic centers. The aim of this study was to assess if similar outcomes could be obtained with the implementation of real-time pharmacist intervention to rapid pathogen identification at two smaller, rural community hospitals.

Methods: This was a pre-post implementation study that occurred from September of 2019 to March 2020. This study included patients ≥18 years of age admitted with one positive blood culture. Patients were excluded if they were pregnant, had a polymicrobial blood culture, known culture prior to admission, hospice consulted prior to admission, expired prior to positive blood culture, or transferred to another hospital within 24 hours of a positive blood culture. Endpoints of patients prior to intervention were compared to patients post-implementation. The primary endpoint was time to optimal antimicrobial therapy. Secondary endpoints included time to effective antimicrobial therapy, in-hospital mortality, length of hospital stay, and overall cost of hospitalization.

Results: Of 212 patients screened, 88 patients were included with 44 patients in each group. Both groups were similar in terms of comorbidities, infection source, and causative microbial. No significant difference was seen in the mean time to optimal antimicrobial therapy (27.3±35.5 hr vs 19.4± 30 hr, p=0.265). Patients in the post-implementation group had a significantly higher mean hospitalization cost ($24,638.87± $11,080.91 vs $32,722.07±$13,076.73, p=0.013). There was no significant difference in time to effective antimicrobial therapy, in-hospital mortality, or length of hospital stay.

Conclusion: There were no between-group differences in the primary outcome of time to optimal therapy, with a higher mean hospitalization cost after implementation. These results suggest further antimicrobial stewardship interventions are needed, along with larger studies conducted in the community hospital settings.