Implementation of a ß-lactam therapeutic drug monitoring program: Experience from a large academic medical center.

PURPOSE: To describe the implementation and operationalization of a ß-lactam (BL) therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) program at a large academic center. SUMMARY: BLs are the most used class of antibiotics. Suboptimal antibiotic exposure is a significant concern in hospitalized patients, particularly in those with altered pharmacokinetics. BL-TDM provides clinicians the opportunity to optimize drug concentrations to ensure maximal therapeutic efficacy while minimizing toxicity. However, BL-TDM has not been widely adopted due to the lack of access to assays. The University of Florida Shands Hospital developed a BL-TDM program in 2015. This is a consultative service primarily run by pharmacists and is conducted in all patient care areas. An analysis was performed on the first BL-TDM encounter for 1,438 patients. BL-TDM was most frequently performed for cefepime (61%, n = 882), piperacillin (15%, n = 218), and meropenem (11%, n = 151). BL-TDM was performed a median of 3 days (interquartile range, 1-5 days) from BL initiation. Among patients with available minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values and trough concentrations, the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) target of 100% fT>MIC was attained in 308 patients (88%). BL-TDM resulted in a dosage adjustment in 25% (n = 361) of patients. CONCLUSION: Implementation of a BL-TDM program requires the concerted efforts of physicians, pharmacists, nursing staff, phlebotomists, and personnel in the analytical laboratory. Standard antibiotic dosing failed to achieve optimal PK/PD targets in all patients; utilizing BL-TDM, dose adjustments were made in 1 of every 4 patients.