If we do not address antimicrobial resistance (AMR) now, we will lose the ability to safely perform routine medical procedures and surgeries. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites mutate naturally over time and no longer respond to modern medicines making infections harder to treat. As a result, standard antibiotic treatments become ineffective and infections persist, increasing the risk of severe consequences to the patient.

The development of resistant bacteria is a natural phenomenon that is exacerbated and accelerated by the inappropriate use of antibiotics in the fields of human and animal health and the inadequate infection control.

The cost of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is significant and can be measured in terms of human lives lost. It’s a complex issue that requires global attention and coordinated efforts to address.

Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) is a commitment to preserve antibiotic efficacy for future generations through appropriate use of antimicrobial drugs. The goal of antimicrobial stewardship initiatives is to ensure that the right antibiotic is given to the right patient at the right time, with the right dose and via the right route – causing the least harm to the patient. In realistic terms, it is a multidisciplinary approach that aims to ensure that patients benefit from the most effective antibiotic treatments, while limiting the side effects and costs of unnecessary treatments.

AMS programs help fight antimicrobial resistance by providing a framework for responsible antibiotics prescribing and use, optimizing individual therapy, helping reduce the spread of resistance and raising awareness & education.

• Improve Labs: countries need medical labs to identify bacteria and choose the right drugs to treat them
  
• Collect & Share Data: countries need systems to track cases and report results globally to make better policy decisions
  
• Use Antibiotics Wisely: to ensure antibiotics are here when we need them, they must be prescribed and taken correctly now
  
• Take Measures to Prevent Infections: especially in healthcare settings, effective infection control practices are critical 

bioMérieux is your trusted partner in today’s healthcare systems. We provide the most comprehensive diagnostics and expertise, enabling hospital laboratories to provide actionable evidence and insights to clinicians, partnering together on improving patient outcomes and creating more effective stewardship programs to fight AMR.  

Our complete AMS solution encompasses more than just traditional state-of-the-art lab technology. Because at bioMérieux we fully understand your antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) needs, our offer translates into 4 key areas where we help hospitals and labs worldwide evolve to suit today’s needs and tomorrow’s concerns: 

• Diagnostic Solutions: Diagnostic tools help clinicians determine timely and appropriate treatment which help to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistant infections. As the largest in vitro diagnostics company committed to antimicrobial stewardship, we help maximize the use of diagnostic solutions to detect, identify, and treat today’s most urgent drug-resistant pathogens. 
  
• Advanced Analytics: We support healthcare systems in their efforts to deliver evidence-based clinical care with our analytic platforms that help to optimize efficiency and increase collaborative communication. 
• Services: Improve lab efficiency and accelerate the medical and economic value of stewardship.
  
• Educational Modules: Educate hospital stakeholders to ensure antimicrobial stewardship programs’ success. 

bioMérieux has the most comprehensive solutions on the market all along the patient pathway from antibiotic initiation to optimization and discontinuation. Comprehensive solutions exist today to slow the spread of antimicrobial resistance and accelerate your stewardship program success. bioMérieux is dedicated to helping you as a healthcare professional access actionable results faster because time-to-diagnose and therapeutic efficacy are critical.

bioMérieux is taking a proactive, partnership-driven approach by creating the Antimicrobial Stewardship Centers of Excellence (COE) initiative to focus on delivering high-value solutions, expertise, and service in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) efforts in order to improve patient care.

In 2021, bioMérieux established the Antimicrobial Stewardship Centers of Excellence program to bring attention to the threat of antimicrobial resistance and to accelerate the impact that infectious diseases diagnostics have in facilitating antimicrobial stewardship and better patient care. bioMérieux has formalized partnerships with 14 hospitals globally, including sites in the United States, India, China, Malaysia, Morocco, Germany, France, Italy, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and Kenya. These sites are leaders in their countries and regions in regard to integrating diagnostics into antimicrobial stewardship. The partnerships will focus on generating and showcasing real-world medical and economic data and best practices about the value of combining diagnostics, medical education, lab consultancy services, and information technology solutions.

bioMérieux and the AMS Centers of Excellence have a shared vision for the future of managing antimicrobial resistance and improving antimicrobial stewardship initiatives. This designation signifies these hospitals and laboratories as partners of choice for bioMérieux to further define and demonstrate data-driven best practices, to improve interventions, and identify new diagnostic solutions in combatting antimicrobial resistance.

In Malaysia, we partnered with our AMS COE site, Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur to set in motion the first AMS COE Symposium, alongside IHH Healthcare Malaysia and Premier Integrated Labs. This symposium served as an opportunity for local and global healthcare experts to come together and exchange knowledge on best strategies and practices for fighting the challenges brought to us by AMR. We will continue to work together with our partners, as we believe that a multi-sectoral collaborative approach is our best strategy to combat this resistance.

In North America, Tampa General Hospital and Henry Ford Health are two health systems that have received this Global Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence designation. Find out more as their team shares what this designation means to them.