Cost Savings with Syndromic Meningitis/Encephalitis Testing

Investing in syndromic meningitis/encephalitis testing with BIOFIRE can provide several benefits over time, including significant cost savings.

Traditional vs. Syndromic Meningitis/Encephalitis Testing

Determining the pathogenic cause of meningitis/encephalitis is key to providing optimal treatment. Bacterial and viral etiologies can present with similar symptoms, and traditional testing can take days before results are available. In the meantime, healthcare providers rely on empiric treatment while awaiting diagnostic testing results to reduce negative patient outcomes. However, empiric treatment consumes valuable resources and can lead to unnecessary antimicrobial use, which introduces additional risks that can result in negative outcomes. All of these factors add to the overall cost of care.

Syndromic testing provides an alternative solution. Each panel on the BIOFIRE^® FILMARRAY^® System takes a symptom-driven approach, using multiplex PCR to identify a comprehensive grouping of pathogens that cause overlapping signs and symptoms.

The BIOFIRE^® FILMARRAY^® Meningitis/Encephalitis (ME) Panel tests for 14 of the most common bacteria, viruses, and yeast associated with central nervous system infections in about an hour using only 0.2 mL of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

Graph showing traditional meningitis/encephalitis tests vs BIOFIRE ME Panel

Compared to traditional meningitis/encephalitis tests, the BIOFIRE ME Panel provides rapid results in a clinically actionable timeframe. Over time, the BIOFIRE ME Panel can contribute to significant cost savings in the lab, as well as for the overall cost of care in pediatric and adult populations.

In the lab:

Ease-of-use enables around-the-clock meningitis/encephalitis testing, removing the need to delay or send out tests
Requires no specialized training and approximately 2 minutes of hands-on time
Increases pathogen detection by ~2.5x, enabling specific etiologic diagnoses^1,2

Outside the lab:

Reduces time to diagnostic results by up to 5 days compared to send-out testing, which can help providers avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, optimize treatment faster, and reduce LOS^3,4
Reduces antibiotic and antiviral therapy by 2 days^4,6

To learn how investing in the other panel tests on the BIOFIRE System can lead to cost savings benefits, click here.

How Much Does the BIOFIRE ME Panel Cost?

Determining the cost of onboarding and running the BIOFIRE ME Panel depends on several factors. To get exact pricing information tailored to your institution, click below to get in touch with our team.

REFERENCES:

Evans M, et al. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2020 96(2):114935.
Posnakoglou L, et al. (2020) Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis.
Walker M, et al. Am J Med Sci. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjms.2020.09.020.
Moffa MA, et al. (2020) Antibiotics (Basel). 26;9(6):F282.
O’Brien MP, et al. (2018) Pediatr Infect Dis J. 37(9):868-871.
Hagen A, et al. (2020) BMC Pediatr. 5;20(1):56.

Individual hospitals and physicians are responsible for exercising independent clinical judgment in selecting the codes that most accurately reflect a patient’s condition and the procedures performed as well as their own billing decisions. Laws, regulations, and policies concerning coding and payment are complex and subject to change. Physicians and hospitals should refer to current, complete, and authoritative publications, such as American Medical Association (AMA) CPT lists, Medicare transmittals, Local Coverage Determinations, and third-party payor policies as the basis for selecting codes that describe care rendered to an individual patient and that comply with all laws, regulations, and policies applicable to the healthcare provider, and may wish to contact individual Medicare contractors or other third-party insurers as needed.