Comparison of Pharmacist-Directed Management of Multiplex PCR Blood Culture Results with Conventional Microbiology Methods on Effective and Optimal Therapy within a Community Hospital.

Multiplex PCR combined with a pharmacist-driven reporting protocol was compared to the standard of care within a community hospital to evaluate initial changes after notification of a positive blood culture. The intervention group demonstrated decreased times to changes in antimicrobial therapy (P = 0.0081), increased changes to optimal antimicrobial therapy (P = 0.013), and decreased vancomycin use for coagulase-negative staphylococcus contaminants (P < 0.01) with multiplex PCR implementation and pharmacist intervention.