Software Integrates Lab Results With Patient Profiles

A new software system provides timely medication recommendations for patients with infectious diseases, based on lab results, individual patient profiles, and certain other parameters.

The clinical intervention and patient-monitoring software is called Stellara. It offers doctors access to data across a hospital or hospital system to identify trends of bacteria and antibiotic susceptibility/resistance, giving the clinician a more complete picture of the local environment. Antimicrobial therapeutic recommendations are supported by actual citations and Web links to journal articles and research sources. The doctor is automatically alerted if a drug interaction is likely, which increases the opportunity for intervention and decreases the chances of an adverse drug reaction.

The Stellara software integrates the identification/susceptibility/resistance results from the BacTAlert and Vitek systems of bioMerieux, which are sent directly to the pharmacist and clinician to allow for quicker and more accurate treatment decisions. This real-time information enables doctors to rapidly match the identified bacterium to the most effective antibiotic(s), avoiding potential medication errors and shortening hospital stay.

The Web-based application operates on Palm systems, offering mobility for the doctor and providing a return-on-investment for the hospital. Stellara is the product of bioMerieux sa (Marcy l'Etoile, France).

"With more than U.S.$120 billion spent in treating adverse drug events each year, Stellara will provide significant cost savings, not to mention improved patient safety and care,” said J. Kelly Martin, PharmD., director of pharmaceutical services, Franciscan Health Systems (Tacoma, WA, USA).




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