How the BioFire® FilmArray® System Empowers an Emergency Medicine Physician

As an emergency medicine physician, Dr. Louis Frazier uses fast, pathogen-specific results
from the BioFire® FilmArray® Respiratory Panel 2 (RP2) and the BioFire® FilmArray® Meningitis/Encephalitis (ME) Panel to help diagnose patients in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Power of Speed

The BioFire RP2 tests for 21 pathogens in about 45 minutes, and the BioFire ME Panel tests for 14 pathogens in about an hour. Dr. Frazier uses these diagnostic tests to decrease sample-to-answer turnaround time where it matters. “Using the BioFire System helps us come up with diagnoses very quickly,” he said. “That is clutch, especially in the emergency department, where we’re trying to get people out in a timely fashion.”

The Power of a Negative Result

Differentiating between bacterial and viral meningitis is key to providing optimal treatment. Pathogen-specific results from the BioFire ME Panel help Dr. Frazier rule in—and rule out—possible causes of meningitis. In the emergency department, he said, “a lot of patients present with headache, fever, and neck pain—and it’s not always bacterial. Sometimes it’s viral.”

The Power of Information

By providing fast results on a comprehensive grouping of pathogens, the BioFire RP2 helps Dr. Frazier make informed decisions while patients are still in the emergency room. “Whether they need to be admitted to the hospital, or if it’s just a young child with nasal congestion and a cough, I can give the family reassurance that it’s a virus causing the symptoms,” he said.

Learn how syndromic testing from BioFire can help take the
guesswork out of infectious disease diagnostics.

DON’T GUESS, KNOW