Background: Patients with pneumonia are frequently recipients of broad-spectrum antibiotics while awaiting maturation of respiratory cultures. FilmArray pneumonia panel (FPP) is an option for more expeditious identification of pathogen(s). We evaluated the utility of FPP in early de-escalation or escalation of antibiotics. Methods: FPP tests were performed on adults hospitalized with pneumonia. The microbiologist directly communicated the organisms, colony counts, and resistance patterns to the infectious disease physician or pharmacist. These results were also compared with pathogen identification and resistance patterns from a VITEK-2 system. The primary objective of this analysis was to evaluate the rates of de-escalation, escalation, and discontinuation of therapy and their impact on inpatient mortality. The secondary objective of the analysis was to evaluate the confirmation of detected organisms and resistance patterns by FPP. Results: In total, 26 patients included in the analysis. The median age was 70 years and 62% of patients were men; 50% of these patients were critically ill. In the cohort, the most commonly identified organisms were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (31%) and Staphylococcus aureus (30%). Other common organisms were Moraxella catarrhalis (23%) and influenza A (15%). The CTX-M resistance gene was seen in 30% of Enterobacteriaceae cultures, and the MecA/C and MREJ genes were detected in 75% of Staphylococcus aureus cultures. As a result of FPP, de-escalation occurred at a rate of 62%; discontinuation occurred at 42%; and escalation occurred 23%. Inpatient mortality was similar among the 3 groups: de-escalation, 37.5%; discontinuation, 45.5%; escalation, 50%. Notably, 82% of patients received comfort care. Organisms and resistance rates were confirmed with respiratory cultures in 54% of patients. Conclusions: Utilizing FPP yielded high rates of de-escalation, discontinuation, and escalation of antibiotics. No impact noted on inpatient mortality was noted; most of these patients were managed by comfort care. Culture confirmation rates were low due to the variety of sample types. We believe that the use of FPP for bronchoscopy and endotracheal cultures would have the highest impact on antibiotic stewardship efforts.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None