Management of Gram-positive Bloodstream Infections: Collaboration Perspectives from the Laboratory and Antimicrobial Stewardship

This informative webinar will feature two speakers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center who will dive into the collaborative efforts between the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory and the Antimicrobial Stewardship Team to adopt and implement the rapid sample-to-answer ePlex^® Blood Culture Identification Gram-Positive (BCID-GP) Panel, which detects 20 bacterial targets, 4 antimicrobial resistance genes associated with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) along with two Pan targets that help to identify a wide array of Gram-negative bacteria and 4 of the most prevalent Candida species from a positive blood culture.

From the laboratory perspective, the Clinical Microbiologist will focus on laboratory changes needed to adopt a rapid diagnostic panel for the detection of Gram-positive bloodstream infections, including the validation, workflow, quality assurance and reporting of this test into the Laboratory Information System and EMR. From the Antimicrobial Stewardship perspective, an Infectious Diseases Pharmacist will define the roadmap for translating the BCID-GP Panel results into optimized patient care algorithms, including real-time stewardship interventions based on organism identification and detection of resistance genes.

The teams worked collaboratively to achieve successful adoption and implementation of the new rapid diagnostic method. Since the Go-Live of the ePlex BCID-GP Panel, the teams share clinical metrics and outcomes highlighting the value of the rapid BCID-GP Panel in managing patients with Gram-positive bacteremia.

Speakers

Stephanie L. Mitchell, Ph.D., D(ABMM), Director of Clinical Microbiology at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Assistant Director of Clinical Microbiology at UPMC, Assistant Professor of Pathology, Associate Professor of Infectious Disease and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh

Dr. Stephanie Mitchell is the Medical Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Assistant Medical Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at UPMC, and Assistant Professor of Pathology and Associate Professor of Infectious Disease and Microbiology at University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Mitchell is also a Diplomate of the American Boards of Medical Microbiology. The laboratories under Dr. Mitchell’s direction are full-service, covering bacteriology, virology, parasitology and mycology, and serve adult and pediatric patients, including large transplant and cancer treatment centers.

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Ryan K. Shields, PharmD, MS, Associate Director, Antibiotic Management Program, Division of Infectious Diseases, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh

Ryan Shields is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Clinical and Translation Research at the University of Pittsburgh, and Co-Director of UPMC’s Antibiotic Management Program. He is actively engaged in the management of patients infected by multi-drug resistant bacteria and fungi. His laboratory focuses on the characterization and suppression of antimicrobial resistance by using molecular markers to predict patient responses and PK-PD pre-clinical models to study optimized antimicrobial approaches. Using these techniques, Dr. Shields and colleagues have developed treatment paradigms against multidrug resistant pathogens resulting in improved patient outcomes. Dr. Shields’s clinical and research interests have further focused on clinical utilization and emergence of resistance of novel antimicrobial agents and innovative stewardship approaches to implement new diagnostic tests.

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