SahmAlert has been developed to assist the Microbiology Laboratory at Barnes and Jewish Hospitals (teaching hospitals affiliated with the university) with identifying organisms that have unusual patterns of antibiotic resistance.

To test the efficacy of antibiotics, microbiologists apply clinically approved drugs to bacterial cultures. Drugs, which are effective against the microorganisms in the culture, may then be considered therapeutically useful in treating a patient with the same type of microbial infection. However, bacteria are developing resistance to existing antibiotics, making previously routine infections difficult or even impossible to treat. This makes the task of developing new antibiotics difficult. It also complicates the work of the health care provider, who must stay abreast of these changes. Microbiology culture data from the hospital’s laboratory system are monitored by SahmAlert. Using a rule base consisting of criteria developed by local epidemiologists, SahmAlert scans the culture data, identifying which cultures contain organisms with patterns of unusual antibiotic resistance.

SahmAlert is a hospital-based system.

Michael Kahn kahn@osler.wustl.edu or Sherry Steib sherry@osler.wustl.edu.

Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Informatics, 660 South Euclid Campus, Box 8005, St. Louis, Missouri, 63110 USA. Phone: (314) 454-8651.