Class of 2011 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to compare patient clinical outcomes, vascular access line administration complications, and piperacillin-tazobactam costs before and after implementation of an extended infusion piperacillin-tazobactam protocol in adult patients at an academic medical center. METHODS: In this IRB-approved retrospective project, the effect of the implementation of a piperacillin- tazobactam extended infusion protocol at a tertiary care, academic medical center was accessed. The use of piperacillin-tazobactam was accessed during 3 one-month time periods in 2010: Time Period 1 (pre-education and implementation of protocol), Time Period 2 (post-education of pharmacists and infectious disease physicians), and Time Period 3 (post-education of healthcare professionals and implementation of extended-infusion piperacillin- tazobactam protocol). Patients were excluded if piperacillin-tazobactam therapy was prescribed for less than 72 hours. Data collected in each one-month period included demographic data, culture results, number of piperacillin-tazobactam grams prescribed per day, percentage of patients who received extended-infusion piperacillin-tazobactam, other antimicrobial therapy prescribed, medications prescribed with intravenous incompatibilities with piperacillin-tazobactam, number of intravenous line lumens before and after start of piperacillin-tazobactam therapy, length of stay, and all-cause 30 day mortality. RESULTS: During a three step process, the use of extended infusion piperacillin-tazobactam was implemented at an academic medical center after administration approval, education of healthcare professionals, and development of an electronic piperacillin-tazobactam order set. Use of extended-infusion piperacillin-tazobactam protocol significantly decreased the average daily piperacillin-tazobactam dose per patient. CONCLUSION: Implementation of extended-infusion piperacillin-tazobactam protocol for adult patients did significantly decrease the average daily dose of piperacillin-tazobactam per patient (reduced drug cost) but increased vascular access requirements.