FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., Nov. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, today announced its latest advancement in combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) with new analytics integrated into the company's connected medication management platform that identifies when an inappropriate and potentially ineffective antibiotic has been prescribed, based on a patient's specific infection diagnosis.

There is a heightened focus on antimicrobial stewardship across the health care industry with new reimbursement standards released by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requiring hospitals to comply with certain infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship requirements.^1,2 Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its updated "Threat Report" – noting antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi cause more than 2.8 million infections and 35,000 deaths in the United States each year.³ Despite public transparency, heightened awareness and financial penalties, hospitals continue to struggle with the burden of health care associated infections (HAIs) and AMR. To help combat these challenges, BD will unveil new antimicrobial stewardship functionality within the BD HealthSight™ connected medication management platform at this year's American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Meeting being held in Las Vegas from Dec. 9-11.

BD HealthSight™ Clinical Advisor is a new functionality within the BD HealthSight™ connected medication management platform that aggregates disparate patient data to provide clinicians with the ability to receive near real-time medication stewardship alerts within the pharmacy workflow. These actionable alerts are delivered within the connected medication management process to help health care providers prevent not only the administration of inappropriate antibiotics, but also the potential waste of resources associated with compounding and preparing unnecessary medication for delivery. Clinical stewardship programs are also supported through customized dashboards, robust reports and the ability to automate the submission of antimicrobial utilization data for regulatory reporting.

"BD is uniquely positioned to deliver some of the most innovative strategies to address the systemic issues associated with medication management," said Ranjeet Banerjee, worldwide president of Medication Management Solutions for BD. "We continue to develop actionable solutions to complex health issues that require a multifaceted approach, such as AMR and hospital drug diversion. Our latest advancement in antimicrobial stewardship is a fundamental example of our dedication to help health care workers improve patient outcomes."

Since introducing the BD HealthSight™ platform in 2017, BD has expanded and strengthened its offerings of connected technologies, advanced analytics and expert services. This approach includes centralized enterprise-wide analytics, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) in specific use cases, across BD products and connectivity between BD Pyxis™ and BD Alaris™ technologies, in addition to connectivity into the electronic medical record (EMR). Added capabilities such as antimicrobial stewardship surveillance and analytics are the result of this truly integrated system, designed with the clinician in mind to help improve efficiencies and outcomes – with the goal of affording more time for health care workers to focus on patient care.

"One of the key weapons in the fight against the growing problem of drug resistant bacteria is effective antimicrobial stewardship in hospitals. Using available antimicrobials appropriately is the only way to maintain their effectiveness long term and avoid collateral damage, which in turn has the ability to help reduce healthcare associated infections," said Dr. Fares Khater, system director of infectious diseases at Appalachian Regional Healthcare Corporation. "The ability to have near real-time visibility into medication stewardship alerts will enable our staff to make more informed decisions quickly that have the potential to improve patient outcomes by avoiding specific antibiotics when appropriate."

BD's AMR strategy addresses the need for a multifaceted approach to curbing the threat of AMR, including the immediate need for advancement in infection prevention and control practices, diagnostics and surveillance tools. BD engages in extensive cross-sector collaboration with leading health agencies, foundations and other organizations around the world to deploy training initiatives, information systems and medical technology that support programs in hospitals and laboratories, tailoring its approach to the stage of development and level of sophistication in each country's efforts to combat AMR. These new integrated capabilities in the BD HealthSight™ platform are the latest in BD infection surveillance technology. Other BD infection surveillance offerings include data mining technology that creates an early warning system to detect infection anomalies before an outbreak occurs and tools for health care facilities to easily report infection data electronically to public health authorities for enhanced monitoring to identify local, regional and national trends.

BD invites conference attendees to visit booth #1637 to learn more about scaling medication management to the enterprise level with a comprehensive approach that links hospitals' technologies, workflows, inventory and clinical decisions involved in medication therapies across the care continuum. For a complete list of exclusive BD in-booth speaking sessions, symposia sponsorships and other conference activities, please visit bd.com/ASHP2019 and follow BD on Twitter @BDandCo for live conference updates.

About BD
BD is one of the largest global medical technology companies in the world and is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care. The company supports the heroes on the frontlines of health care by developing innovative technology, services and solutions that help advance both clinical therapy for patients and clinical process for health care providers. BD and its 65,000 employees have a passion and commitment to help enhance the safety and efficiency of clinicians' care delivery process, enable laboratory scientists to accurately detect disease and advance researchers' capabilities to develop the next generation of diagnostics and therapeutics. BD has a presence in virtually every country and partners with organizations around the world to address some of the most challenging global health issues. By working in close collaboration with customers, BD can help enhance outcomes, lower costs, increase efficiencies, improve safety and expand access to health care. For more information on BD, please visit bd.com.

¹Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) State Operations Manual Appendix A - Survey Protocol, Regulations and Interpretive Guidelines for Hospitals, Rev. 183, 10-12-18. https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Guidance/Manuals/downloads/som107ap_a_hospitals.pdf
²Department of Health and Human Services & Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Federal Register, Vol. 84, No. 189, 9-30-19, Rules and Regulations. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-09-30/pdf/2019-20736.pdf
³U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Antibiotic Resistant Threats In The United States; 2019.

SOURCE BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company)