Date of Award
2020
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Honors Thesis
Department
Pharmacy
First Advisor
Jarrett Amsden
Abstract
Verigene® is one of many commercially available rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) for organism identification in blood culture. Community Health Network (CHNw) utilizes this system to identify blood cultures and guide antimicrobial therapy. As antibiotic resistance becomes more and more prevalent, limiting exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy is of paramount importance. RDT provides more timely information to providers, which if utilized appropriately, can result in the patient receiving appropriate antibiotic therapy in a shorter time and further limits unnecessary antibiotic exposure. This study was a three-part, retrospective chart review to determine the microbiological accuracy of Verigene® within CHNw and evaluate the use of Verigene® organism identification regarding antimicrobial de-escalation of Escherichia coli bacteremia. The results of this study show that providers should have increased confidence in the utilization and accuracy of Verigene®; however, in the case of E. coli bacteremia, Verigene® is still not being utilized to de-escalate therapy despite educational efforts. More robust education or additional methods/resources are needed to improve the utility of Verigene® within CHNw.
Recommended Citation
Gerske, Rebecca, "Evaluating the impact of Verigene® organism identification on antimicrobial stewardship recommendations" (2020). Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection. 547.
https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ugtheses/547