Case Study: a hospital system reduces high-cost antimicrobial spend with Sentri7® by Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions

One Health System’s Success to Reduce Use of High-cost Antimicrobials and Champion Evidence-based Prescribing to Improve ASP Performance

A major health system customer using Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions' Sentri7 platform faced a challenge in its antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP). The System Director of Pharmacy identified that a specific hospital within the system was overprescribing two high-cost, broad-spectrum antibiotics, ceftaroline and tigecycline, to the tune of over $82,000 per quarter. This practice was not aligned with evidence-based prescribing goals and presented a significant roadblock to improving ASP performance.

The solution involved leveraging the Sentri7 clinical surveillance tool to create a new rule for monitoring the prescribing of these antibiotics in real time. Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions' platform provided the data and benchmarking capabilities needed to show providers their prescribing patterns. This intervention, which included educating clinicians on guidelines and offering alternative options, led to a dramatic reduction in spend on the two drugs from over $82,000 to under $8,000 per quarter within a year, projecting annualized savings of nearly $300,000 and significantly enhancing both patient care and the ASP's effectiveness.

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