Overview
Armstrong County Memorial Hospital (ACMH) is a rural short-term acute care hospital in Kittanning, PA, located roughly 40 miles outside of Pittsburgh. The hospital serves a community of approximately 70,000 residents and operates 112 licensed beds.
The Challenge
ACMH faced the challenge of running an effective antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) without a full in-house infectious diseases (ID) and antimicrobial stewardship team. The hospital confronted several pressing issues:
Rising costs from unnecessary testing & inappropriate antimicrobial use
Pressure to maintain compliance with antimicrobial stewardship standards
Low HAI Leapfrog scores affecting public perception & reputation
The need to improve patient outcomes while controlling costs
Increased risk and expenses from hospital-acquired infections (HAI)
Without the right expertise, ACMH risked both financial strain and reduced quality of care.
The Solution: A Tele-ASP Partnership that Drives Results
To meet these challenges, ACMH partnered with Infectious Disease Connect to implement a comprehensive telemedicine-based Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (Tele-ASP). This integrated model combined expert oversight with practical, hospital-wide interventions:
Program
Development
Building a customized ASP tailored to ACMH’s needs
Compliance
Oversight
Ensuring regulatory and quality standards were met
Direct Patient Care for Onsite Staff
Virtual access to academic ID pharmacists and physicians to review patient-level cases with local pharmacy staff
Cost-Containment Strategies
Optimizing antimicrobial formulary and treatment guidelines
Staff
Education
Training clinicians and pharmacists on best practices via didactic lectures, newsletters, and webinars
Testing Protocol Standardization
Reducing avoidable, high-cost tests that provide minimal clinical utility
This approach gave ACMH access to world-class expertise while maintaining affordability.
Results
The Tele-ASP partnership delivered measurable, year-over-year results:
Respiratory Viral Testing Optimization
$137,297 savings through targeted remdesivir prescribing audits and restrictions (optimized utilization)
Hospital-Onset C. Diff Reduction
$139,455–$192,852 savings via reduction in hospital-onset C. difficile infections (improved standard of care)
Remdesivir Use Reduction
$212,000 savings through Respiratory Viral Panel testing changes (cost-containment)
Overall Impact
Average Annual Savings:
$162,917 – $180,716
ROI: 277-318%*
ACMH proved that rural hospitals can achieve both financial sustainability and clinical excellence through Tele-ASP.
*ROI based on net new cost-savings each year. Does not include persistent/recurring savings from prior years
Ready to Get Started?
Reach out to us to discover how your hospital or health system can implement ID telemedicine.
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