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VIDEO: How to advocate for rapid diagnostics at your hospital
WASHINGTON — Debra A. Goff, PharmD, FCCP, an infectious disease clinical pharmacist and associate professor at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, discusses a strategy that physicians can use to advocate for the use of rapid diagnostics at their institution.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and the Infectious Diseases Society of America all support the use of rapid diagnostics to guide antimicrobial therapy — which is important for hospital administrators to understand. There is also an abundance of literature demonstrating that the use of rapid diagnostic tests provides a return on investment by improving mortality rates and reducing time to effective therapy and lengths of stay.
An additional incentive, Goff said, are lawsuits.
“Lawyers — if you go on their websites — are advertising ideas for ways you can sue hospitals. One of the most prevalent is the delay in diagnosis of meningitis, awarded $10 million,” she said. “That always gets their attention.”
Disclosure: Goff reports serving on the advisory board of Curetis and OpGen.
Editor’s note: Goff’s relevant financial disclosures have been updated since this video was posted.