Impact of a Rapid Blood Culture Diagnostic Panel on Time to Optimal Antimicrobial Therapy at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Purpose: Utilization of rapid diagnostic testing alongside intensive antimicrobial stewardship interventions improves patient outcomes. We sought to determine the clinical impact of a rapid blood culture identification (BCID) panel in an established Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) with limited personnel resources.

Methods: A single center retrospective pre- and post-intervention cohort study was performed following the implementation of a BCID panel on patients admitted with at least 1 positive blood culture during the study period.

Long-term Assessment of NSAID Prescriptions and Potential Nephrotoxicity Risk in Adult Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Background: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use is recommended to be avoided in kidney transplantation, with a paucity of studies assessing their safety within this population. This study aims to use a large cohort of Veterans Affairs (VA) kidney transplantation recipients to assess the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) with NSAID use.

Methods: This is a 10-year longitudinal cohort study of adult kidney transplant recipients retrospectively followed in the VA system from 2001 to 2010 that assessed for risk of AKI with NSAID prescriptions.

Improvement in immunosuppression therapy monitoring in organ transplant recipients.

Purpose: The results of a study to determine whether a technology-enabled pharmacist intervention improved immunosuppression monitoring in organ transplant recipients are presented.

Methods: This was a retrospective, longitudinal cohort study. Eligible patients included veteran solid organ transplant recipients receiving immunosuppression therapy from a Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) between July 1, 2013, and July 1, 2015.