Design of Software Services for Computer-Based Infection Control and Antibiotic Management in the Intensive Care Unit

The increase of nosocomial infections and antibiotic resistance at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) requires new approaches for infection control and antibiotic management. Although large hospitals have already introduced database systems for automated collection of patients´ laboratory results and monitoring data, physicians and nurses are still confronted with time-consuming manual infection control. There is a lack of integrated computerized medical services that could aid physicians in making the most optimal decision in the antibiotic therapies and infection treatment for every patient. Today, current ICU platforms are not offering an infrastructure for infection surveillance, extended data mining and modeling of critical illness. Therefore, this paper describes the design of time and data-driven software services to reduce improper use of antibiotics, prescriptions, inappropriate therapies and to offer an earlier and more accurate detection of infections and antibiotic resistance, contributing to increased efficiency of patient care.