A study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, examined the impact of real-time notification of detection of toxigenic Clostridium difficile infection as a strategy for decreasing time to effective antimicrobial therapy.
Researchers conducted a single-center, retrospective cohort study at a 433-bed tertiary medical center in Kentucky. They examined patients treated for C. diff both before and after the implementation of a real-time provider notification system.
The study shows that the median time to initiation of effective antimicrobial therapy decreased from 5.75 hours prior to real-time notification system implementation to 2.05 hours post-implementation. The intervention also reduced the time from detection of C. diff to order entry of effective antimicrobial therapy in the patient's EMR.
"The implementation of a real-time notification system to alert a pharmacist-led [antimicrobial stewardship program] of toxigenic CDI resulted in statistically significant shorter times to order entry and subsequent initiation of effective antimicrobial therapy and contact precautions," study authors concluded.