Fast diagnostics have the potential to significantly shorten time to appropriate therapy in time critical infections but significant barriers to adoption persist. A new report by the Office of Health Economics calls for the removal of structural and workflow barriers, so that fast results translate into faster therapy.
Every year, an estimated 104,000 adults in the UK are hospitalised with bloodstream infections at high risk of progressing to sepsis.1,2 New independent modelling shows that deploying fast identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing early in the patient pathway could prevent around 10,000 sepsis cases and 5,200 deaths in the UK every year, generate 4,400 additional years of healthy life, and save the NHS approximately £300 million annually.1
A multi-country health economic analysis has now been published assessing the impact of deploying fast identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (ID/AST) early in the care pathway for patients with bloodstream infections at high-risk of sepsis.
Conducted by the Office of Health Economics (OHE), one of the world’s leading independent health economics research organisations, in all G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States), this health economic analysis is the first to provide evidence that early use of fast diagnostics can reduce preventable deterioration into sepsis, improve patient outcomes, and generate substantial cost savings for healthcare systems consistently across all studied countries.
“Every year in the UK, up to 48,000 people die from sepsis,” explains Dr. Ron Daniels, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of the UK Sepsis Trust. “Early intervention is the most impactful way of preventing avoidable deaths, yet we still rely on diagnostics which take days to confirm the causative organism or ‘bug’. Clinicians are left with little choice but to prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics, risking treatment incompatibility and contributing to antimicrobial resistance. This new analysis is highly encouraging, as it shows that early use of fast diagnostics could help the NHS act earlier to prevent sepsis and save thousands of lives.”
Sepsis, a life-threatening reaction to an infection, is responsible for an estimated 21 million deaths globally each year.3 The initial hours of sepsis management are critical, and targeted antibiotic treatment is a key determinant of survival. Yet conventional diagnostic methods take two to three days to deliver results, forcing high-stakes treatment decisions without complete information.4 As a result, nearly 1 in 5 bloodstream infection patients receive an inappropriate initial treatment, increasing the risk of deterioration and driving higher costs for the hospital and health system.5
The model-based health economic analysis evaluates what would happen if fast ID/AST were systematically used early in the care pathway before clinical deterioration occurs. The results show that earlier access to diagnostic information could prevent thousands of patients with bloodstream infection from progressing to sepsis or septic shock annually, with the number of reported sepsis cases potentially falling by an average of more than 20%. This could lead to fewer sepsis-related deaths and a significant reduction in long-term post-sepsis complications, improving patients’ quality of life.1
“This model demonstrates that early diagnostics reduce the likelihood that high-risk patients progress to sepsis and subsequently lower the risk of lasting health complications after discharge. In the UK, the AMR National Action Plan has identified fast and accurate diagnosis as central to improving outcomes, but diagnostic reimbursement structures have not kept pace with this ambition,” explains Paul Skingley, Vice President of Clinical Operations, UK and Ireland bioMérieux.
Across all G7 countries, the evaluation shows that deploying fast ID/AST early in the care pathway is consistently cost-saving, regardless of how each health system is structured or financed.1
Importantly, 53% to 83% of all savings occur during the initial hospitalisation, when the clinical and economic consequences of deterioration are most concentrated, because early diagnostic information prevents the likelihood that patients progress into one of the most resource-intensive stages of sepsis care.1 In the UK, savings are estimated to be £3,000 per patient, driven primarily by fewer ICU admissions, shorter hospital stays, and reduced management of severe complications.1
At the population level, annual national savings for the UK are estimated to be £300 million. These savings reflect both avoided acute phase costs and reduced long-term complications.1
The report, commissioned and funded by bioMérieux, can be viewed at https://www.ohe.org/publications/the-value-of-fast-diagnostics-in-time-critical-infections/ )
References
1. Hassan S, Hamlyn T, Fong H., Hampson G. The Value of Fast Diagnostics in Time-Critical Infections. 2026. OHE Contract Research Report, London: Office of Health Economics
2 https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/sepsis-awareness
3. Gray A, Chung E, Hsu R, et al. Global, regional, and national sepsis incidence and mortality, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis. Lancet Glob Health 2025 ;13 :e2013-26.
4. Bauer KA, Perez KK, Forrest GN, et al. Review of rapid diagnostic tests used by antimicrobial stewardship programs. Clin Infect Dis. 2014;59 Suppl 3:S134145.
5. Kadri SS, Lai YL, Warner S, et al. Inappropriate empirical antibiotic therapy for bloodstream infections based on discordant in-vitro susceptibilities: a retrospective cohort analysis of prevalence, predictors, and mortality risk in US hospitals. Lancet Infect Dis. 2021;21(2):241–251.
