Shimadzu Corporation supported a study assessing the implementation impact of an antimicrobial stewardship program using telemedicine, and the findings were published in an international journal. The study used ExpertTWIN to introduce remote consultations at a 500-bed healthcare institution.
The research group used Shimadzu Corporation's infection management support system, ExpertTWIN, to assess the implementation impact of antimicrobial stewardship using electronic consultations with infectious disease specialists. The group collaborated with researchers from the Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences and the Tobu Medical Center.
An analysis of 24 months of data covering 27,863 inpatients estimated that carbapenem use decreased by an average of 1.4 DOT/100 patient-days. A total of 145 cases were assessed remotely, and 63.1% of 214 recommendations were reflected in clinical practice.
The incidence of some antimicrobial-resistant organisms acquired in the hospital trended downward, while the rate of submission of culture specimens trended upward. The system used in the study is positioned as Japan's first cloud service to streamline consultations between treating healthcare institutions and specialists, as well as contracting and payment operations.
The paper, titled "Impact of an eConsult-based antimicrobial stewardship program using the ExpertTWIN system: a Bayesian structural time-series analysis," was published in Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology.