PETERSON LR; Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (42nd : 2002 : San Diego, Calif.).
Abstr Intersci Conf Antimicrob Agents Chemother Intersci Conf Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2002 Sep 27-30; 42: abstract no. 933.
Evanston Northwestern Healthcare and Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL.
Modern medicine is undergoing dramatic changes in the practice of infectious diseases. New diagnostic testing is on the horizon, however, constrained resources threaten our ability to adequately manage infectious diseases by placing clinical microbiology services and expertise distant from the patient and their infectious disease physician. Laboratory consolidation has become widespread in the last decade. The driving force has been to reduce cost, which is usually achieved through increased automation that results in a reduction of labor needs. Since much of microbiology remains peripheral to large-scale automation, continuing in such a direction threatens the quality of laboratory results as measured by the timeliness of diagnosis, appropriateness of treatment, effective communication, reduction of health care-associated infections, and training of future practitioners. Many tasks performed in the diagnostic laboratory require the expertise of a specifically trained medical technologist. These range from test selection and specimen triage, sample processing, Gram (and other) stain interpretation, performance of accurate susceptibility testing, to recognition of atypical results. Furthermore, key roles of the Microbiologist include daily interaction with the infectious disease physician, interpretation of test results for students, residents, and practicing physicians, plus supporting hospital-wide functions such as the antimicrobial agent formulary and infection control programs. Not all microbiology consolidation has been successful; with some efforts manifesting measurable declines in the quality of test results. Microbiology laboratories are the first line of defense for detecting new antibiotic resistance, outbreaks of food bore infection, and a possible bioterrorism event. Maintaining the appropriate level of high-quality clinical microbiology laboratories on-site at the institution they serve is the current best approach for providing good patient care outcomes that actually save money.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Clinical Laboratory Information Systems
- Communicable Diseases
- Delivery of Health Care
- Efficiency, Organizational
- Hospital Shared Services
- Humans
- Infection
- Infection Control
- Laboratories
- Laboratory Techniques and Procedures
- Pathology Department, Hospital
- Total Quality Management
- microbiology
- organization & administration
Other ID:
UI: 102268298
From Meeting Abstracts