Kern Medical's vancomycin dosing workflow is standardized and improved by PrecisePK's Bayesian precision dosing tools.
SAN DIEGO, May 25, 2023-- Today, PrecisePK welcomes Kern Medical as its latest institution to implement innovations in precision dosing for vancomycin and other antibiotics using the Bayesian AUC-based method. PrecisePK is leading health systems worldwide in transforming the way medications are dosed to fit patient-specific needs. This recent alliance with Kern Medical adds to the system-wide endeavor of accomplishing personalized and precision dosing with a modernized approach by leveraging technology.
"PrecisePK has helped to standardize and improve our vancomycin dosing workflow, and is especially suited to our diverse patient population since special patient factors, renal function calculations, and other components can be customized or factored into Bayesian prior selection."
Michelle Fang, PharmD, BCPS, BCIDP, Infectious Disease Pharmacist at Kern Medical remarks on the usability and advantages of PrecisePK. Conventionally, pharmacists conduct the calculations of drug dosing regimens with formula-driven parameters that likely undermine patients' unique characteristics. Prior to leveraging the benefits of Bayesian dosing software, pharmacists also spent considerable time ensuring therapeutic computations through rigid pen-and-paper or in-house Excel spreadsheets.
In 2020, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists developed the new vancomycin consensus guidelines for serious methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections. These consensus guidelines recommend an AUC/MIC ratio of 400–600 mg*hour/L (assuming a broth microdilution MIC of 1 mg/L) to achieve clinical efficacy and ensure patient safety. Since then, large and small institutions are finding the transition from trough to AUC vancomycin dosing a safer and better clinical standard. PrecisePK's robust solutions allow the traditional clinical routine to be much more streamlined, with enhanced therapeutic efficiency and efficacy.
Dr. Fang's primary roles at Kern Medical include participating in daily infectious diseases rounds and collaborating with interdisciplinary teams as co-chair of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee to optimize both patient-specific and system-level use of antimicrobials. Dr. Fang also monitors patients on long-term IV antibiotics through the Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) Clinic. Her interests include improving the appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing through patient and provider education, rapid diagnostics, and PK/PD optimization.
"We look forward to this long-lasting relationship in joining hands to better the clinical practices and in the bigger picture, safeguard against the global antibiotic resistance crisis. Through our partnership with Kern Medical, we gain the privilege to assist in the knowledge and experience of their healthcare professionals. Their valuable expertise, combined with our collaboration with UCLA, allows us to develop solutions that are tailored to the specific needs of the California population. With Bayesian precision dosing, it's more than the right dose for the right patient at the right time. PrecisePK's state-of-the-art technology at the end of the day is human-driven, we honor clinical judgment and humbly and quickly implement feedback from pharmacists. Our latest implementation of patient case auto-save feature based on popular demands is an example." says Anjum Gupta, Ph.D., CEO of PrecisePK.
About Kern Medical
Kern Medical has been a community cornerstone since its founding in 1867. Today, it is an acute care teaching center with 222 beds, offering the only advanced trauma care between Fresno and Los Angeles in California. Each year, more than 200 residents, fellows, and medical students enroll in their UCLA-affiliated training programs. They also promote the education of clinical pharmacists, nursing students, respiratory therapists, lab technicians, and allied health professionals. Kern Medical values innovation and continues to add new medical technologies, recruit outstanding physicians in new specialties, and strengthen its ties with UCLA. As a topflight regional healthcare system, Kern Medical is a leading voice for health, healing, and wellness in the Central Valley.
About PrecisePK
PrecisePK is a leading global provider of therapeutic drug monitoring software for Bayesian model-informed precision dosing. By leveraging real-time bedside assistance in drug dosing, therapeutic analytics, local populations model, AKI predictor, and other resources, the software is designed to streamline the work necessary to achieve individualized treatment and safeguard patient care, at the point of care. In addition to its robust vancomycin software, PrecisePK offers a wide array of drug modules that aid in the workflow of infectious diseases as well as several other therapeutic areas including neurology, oncology, cardiology, and pulmonology. Visit PrecisePK's website for a free trial.
