Microbiologia Médica e Diagnóstico

Economic Impact of Microarray-Based Rapid Detection of Gram-Positive Organisms in Blood Cultures

Abstract

Paul Mariani, Jesse Breidenbach and Felix Roth

We assessed the clinical and economic impact of using the microarray-based Verigene Gram positive blood culture (BC-GP) test to identify gram positive bacteria in blood cultures. The main advantage of employing this test in comparison to conventional culture techniques resided on identifying the causative organism an average of 42.8 hours prior than conventional culture techniques. The microarray-based test results allowed providers to tailor antibiotic therapy and decide whether to admit/discharge a patient sooner, which reflected over $21,000 in hospital savings for the 105 cases analyzed in this study. The implementation of the Verigene BC-GP in our Microbiology Laboratory presented an economic advantage when compared to conventional workup and was shown to improve ongoing antimicrobial stewardship and patient care.