Implementation of an interactive computer-assisted infection monitoring program at the bedside

A new computer-assisted infection monitoring (CAI) software program has bee n developed for use in an intensive-care unit (ICU). By means of an interac tive dialogue with physicians at the bedside, infection diagnoses and thera peutic decisions were recorded prospectively during a 3-month test period. By linking epidemiological data with information about therapeutic decision s, CAI could assess the quality of the therapeutic decisions. Antibiotics c hosen empirically before the availability of any culture results, matched t he antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the subsequently identified pathog ens in 74% of the cases. Therapy chosen in collaboration with the computer after the pathogen was known, but before sensitivity results were available , corresponded with the eventual antibiograms of the microorganisms in 90% of the cases. Data analysis by CA allowed us to assess critically the diagn ostic and therapeutic habits in our ICU. Using the query-by-example method, CAI automatically calculated device-associated infection rates (Infect Con trol Hosp Epidemiol 1999;20:444-447).