Publications by authors named "Kent Garrett"

Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to identify and analyze the differences between the quantities of medications supplied to public hospitals and those actually given to patients, focusing on 20 commonly used drugs in Melbourne hospitals in 2019.
  • It found that the overall discrepancy rate was 19.2%, with notable variations between hospitals and types of wards; discrepancies were highest for self-treatment medications like oral antibiotics and gastrointestinal drugs.
  • The estimated financial impact of these discrepancies on hospitals was approximately $27,800, highlighting a significant issue in medication tracking and management.
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Objectives: Saline and Plasma-Lyte have different physiochemical contents; consequently, they may differently affect patients' renal function. We compared the effects of fluid therapy with 0.9% saline and with Plasma-Lyte 148 on renal function as assessed by creatinine concentration among patients undergoing major surgery.

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Background: Penicillin allergies are associated with inferior patient and antimicrobial stewardship outcomes. We implemented a whole-of-hospital program to assess the efficacy of inpatient delabeling for low-risk penicillin allergies in hospitalized inpatients.

Methods: Patients ≥ 18 years of age with a low-risk penicillin allergy were offered a single-dose oral penicillin challenge or direct label removal based on history (direct delabeling).

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Objective: The primary objective of this study was to examine the impact of an electronic medical record (EMR)-driven intensive care unit (ICU) antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) service on clinician compliance with face-to-face AMS recommendations. AMS recommendations were defined by an internally developed "5 Moments of Antimicrobial Prescribing" metric: (1) escalation, (2) de-escalation, (3) discontinuation, (4) switch, and (5) optimization. The secondary objectives included measuring the impact of this service on (1) antibiotic appropriateness, and (2) use of high-priority target antimicrobials.

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Rationale, Aims And Objectives: Inpatient bed access decreases when ward discharge is delayed. This contributes to prolonged emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) which has been associated with increased hospital LOS and mortality. Delays in preparation of discharge medication prescriptions by ward doctors may contribute to delayed ward discharge.

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The impact of a computer-based infectious diseases electronic antibiotic advice and approval system ("IDEA(3)S") was assessed as an alternative to a labour-intensive, phone-based approval system. IDEA(3)S-based approvals replaced 48% of all approvals for the most frequently requested antimicrobial agents (ceftriaxone/cefotaxime, vancomycin) and were associated with stable overall rates of antimicrobial use. Antibiotic prescribing for community-acquired pneumonia was 76% concordant with IDEA(3)S recommendations, and clinical acceptance of IDEA(3)S was excellent.

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