COMPARISON OF EFFICACY AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF BIOMIC VIDEO AND VITEK ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY TEST SYSTEMS FOR USE IN THE CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY LABORATORY
I. Berke et Pm. Tierno, COMPARISON OF EFFICACY AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF BIOMIC VIDEO AND VITEK ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY TEST SYSTEMS FOR USE IN THE CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY LABORATORY, Journal of clinical microbiology, 34(8), 1996, pp. 1980-1984
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing expense mag be a significant port
ion of a clinical microbiology laboratory's budget. This study compare
s the BIOMIC VIDEO system (Giles Scientific, Inc., New York, N.Y.) wit
h the Vitek system (bioMerieux Vitek, Inc., Hazelwood Mo.), an establi
shed automated method of antimicrobial susceptibility testing with the
ability to generate MIC data. The BIOMIC system is relatively inexpen
sive and automates the reading of the classical disk agar diffusion te
st to provide both qualitative (susceptibility interpretation) and qua
ntitative (MIG) data. The overall MIC correlation between the two syst
ems for the 2,913 drug-organism combinations tested was 92.6%. The ove
rall agreement for susceptibility interpretationm was 97.4%. The BIOMI
C system offers a 57.4% savings per test over the Vitek system. The BI
OMIC system utilizes an older technology which is more efficient and y
et yields results comparable to those of established automated MIC met
hods. The savings achievable in laboratories and hospitals nationwide
may contribute significantly to the containment of national health car
e expenditures.