Education as a means of reducing medical expenses

In treating patients with infectious diseases, key knowledge and experience are essential in making appropriate clinical decisions. Medical students i n Japan receive limited tuition in clinical pharmacology and microbiology i n their undergraduate curriculum. Education and guidance in these fields ar e not always provided, even during postgraduate training. To help overcome this problem, we have devised a quick medical reference system to support a ntimicrobial chemotherapy, and this has been operating in our hospital sinc e May 1994. This system is integrated in order to convey the maximal signif icance of test results by providing detailed information on various kinds o f pathogens and antibiotics immediately on every computer display. This is a unique system in Japan, and aims to help doctors provide effective therap y. Using this system, we have succeeded in reducing medical expenditure for antimicrobials by around 10%.