Managed Healthcare Executive Discusses New CMS Rule and the Role of Diagnostics in Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs

On November 18, 2019, Managed Healthcare Executive (MHE) published an article discussing the new CMS rule and its impact on hospitals. The article notes that while CMS does not outline specific guidelines for Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASP), it requires hospitals to implement their programs in accordance with nationally recognized guidelines, such as those from the CDC, IDSA, and SHEA.

MHE highlights the collaborative nature of successful ASPs, with education and buy-in required at all levels of hospital leadership and management, in addition to pharmacists, physicians, nurses, and patients.  To facilitate collaboration, data needs to be shared quickly and with the right stakeholders.

In the article, bioMérieux’s John Hurst, PharmD, BCPS-AQ ID, Senior Director of Antimicrobial Stewardship, says that, “Diagnostics are an important part of ASPs, as they can help fulfill many elements of the CMS mandate and antimicrobial resistance reporting. Diagnostics provide value to clinicians at multiple decision points in the prescribing process, including when to escalate, de-escalate, continue antimicrobial therapy, or not to initiate it in the first place.”