European journal of medical research
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Meta Analysis
The use of a standardized PCT-algorithm reduces costs in intensive care in septic patients - a DRG-based simulation model.
The management of bloodstream infections especially sepsis is a difficult task. An optimal antibiotic therapy (ABX) is paramount for success. Procalcitonin (PCT) is a well investigated biomarker that allows close monitoring of the infection and management of ABX. It has proven to be a cost-efficient diagnostic tool. In Diagnoses Related Groups (DRG) based reimbursement systems, hospitals get only a fixed amount of money for certain treatments. Thus it's very important to obtain an optimal balance of clinical treatment and resource consumption namely the length of stay in hospital and especially in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). We investigated which economic effects an optimized PCT-based algorithm for antibiotic management could have. ⋯ Managing sepsis with daily monitoring of PCT using our refined algorithm is suitable to save substantial costs in hospitals. Implementation in clinical routine settings will show how much of the calculated effect will be achieved in reality.