Infectious Disease Connect Inc., a UPMC Enterprises company offering telemedicine-enabled solutions to hospitals for treatment of infectious disease, has combined with Merck’s ILÚM Health Solutions, a provider of technology and services to support infectious disease management, clinical decision-support and precision antibiotic therapy. The expanded company now serves hospitals in nine states.
With ILÚM’s platform, ID Connect’s physicians and pharmacists will receive real-time antimicrobial usage and resistance data from partner hospitals to help them select appropriate therapy, while managing costs, toxicity and the potential for further resistance and transmission of infection. The ILÚM Insight software uses machine learning to evaluate a patient’s demographic factors, medication history, past hospitalizations and other data to generate individualized treatment recommendations.
With its expanded capabilities, ID Connect aims to ease a nationwide shortage of ID physicians while reducing the risk of hospital-acquired infections that cost hospitals more than $40 billion annually. As a result, the company can provide hospitals with the necessary tools to meet federal regulations that require evidence-based antimicrobial stewardship programs that produce measurable results.
