scholarly journals Passive Engineering Controls Result in Sustained 66% Reduction in Blood Culture Contamination

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s342-s343
Author(s):  
Monica Baxter ◽  
Carolyn Cook ◽  
Angie James

Background: Blood culture testing is an important diagnostic tool in identifying the presence of microbes in the bloodstream. Tests are frequently contaminated, leading to false-positive results. Blood culture contamination can result in unnecessary antibiotic treatment, extended hospital length of stay, and patient exposure to hospital-acquired conditions. Methods: St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center (SMRMC) in Russellville, Arkansas, struggled with blood-culture contamination rates, with an average of 6.8% from 2014 to 2018. Ongoing staff education yielded a reduction to an average of 5%. In an effort to reduce the contamination rates, our facility elected to try a novel specimen diversion device. Laboratory and emergency department (ED) staff were educated on the diversion device prior to the initiation of the trial period. Compliance with the diversion device averaged 70%–75% during the trial period. Monitoring of contaminations was added to our daily safety huddle to provide a quick turnaround time for false-positive education to specific clinical staff. Results: The results were significant, with a decrease in contamination rates from 4.93% to 1.66%—a 66% reduction. Improved blood culture testing has several advantages: best practice for patient care is first and foremost, along with other financial benefits for the facility. Several articles have estimated the cost of a contaminated culture to be $3,000–$10,000 per event; SMRMC has adopting an estimated cost of $4,000. The number of cultures at our hospital averages ~4,400 per year, and these results suggest a savings of >$500,000 per year (as contaminations on an annual basis fell from 217 to 73). With this intervention, 144 patients were spared from receiving unnecessary antibiotics as a result of a false-positive blood culture testing. Conclusions: We conducted a brief analysis to determine whether there was any obvious change in length of stay for patients with a false-positive blood culture compared to those with true negative results. In analyzing data for 3 different months, patients with contaminated cultures spent an average of 3.97 additional days in the facility. In conclusion, the implementation of this specimen diversion device significantly lowered our contamination rates, was integrated into practice, and has provided clinical and financial benefits.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason M. Pogue ◽  
Ryan P. Mynatt ◽  
Dror Marchaim ◽  
Jing J. Zhao ◽  
Viktorija O. Barr ◽  
...  

Objective.To assess the impact of active alerting of positive blood culture data coupled with stewardship intervention on time to appropriate therapy, length of stay, and mortality in patients with gram-negative bacteremia.Design.Quasi-experimental retrospective cohort study in patients with gram-negative bacteremia at the Detroit Medical Center from 2009 to 2011.Setting.Three hospitals (1 community, 2 academic) with active antimicrobial stewardship programs within the Detroit Medical Center.Patients.All patients with monomicrobial gram-negative bacteremia during the study period.Intervention.Active alerting of positive blood culture data coupled with stewardship intervention (2010-2011) compared with patients who received no formalized stewardship intervention (2009).Results.Active alerting and intervention led to a decreased time to appropriate therapy (8 [interquartile range (IQR), 2-24] vs 14 [IQR, 2-35] hours; P = .014) in patients with gram-negative bacteremia. After controlling for differences between groups, being in the intervention arm was associated with an independent reduction in length of stay (odds ratio [OR], 0.73 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.62-0.86]), correlating to a median attributable decrease in length of stay of 2.2 days. Additionally, multivariate modeling of patients who were not on appropriate antimicrobial therapy at the time of initial culture positivity showed that patients in the intervention group had a significant reduction in both length of stay (OR, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.66-0.86]) and infection-related mortality (OR, 0.24 [95% CI, 0.08-0.76]).Conclusions.Active alerting coupled with stewardship intervention in patients with gram-negative bacteremia positively impacted time to appropriate therapy, length of stay, and mortality and should be a target of antimicrobial stewardship programs.


Diagnosis ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Eames ◽  
Arie Eisenman ◽  
Richard J. Schuster

AbstractPrevious studies have shown that changes in diagnoses from admission to discharge are associated with poorer outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate how diagnostic discordance affects patient outcomes.: The first three digits of ICD-9-CM codes at admission and discharge were compared for concordance. The study involved 6281 patients admitted to the Western Galilee Medical Center, Naharyia, Israel from the emergency department (ED) between 01 November 2012 and 21 January 2013. Concordant and discordant diagnoses were compared in terms of, length of stay, number of transfers, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, readmission, and mortality.: Discordant diagnoses was associated with increases in patient mortality rate (5.1% vs. 1.5%; RR 3.35, 95% CI 2.43, 4.62; p<0.001), the number of ICU admissions (6.7% vs. 2.7%; RR 2.58, 95% CI 2.07, 3.32; p<0.001), hospital length of stay (3.8 vs. 2.5 days; difference 1.3 days, 95% CI 1.2, 1.4; p<0.001), ICU length of stay (5.2 vs. 3.8 days; difference 1.4 days, 95% CI 1.0, 1.9; p<0.001), and 30 days readmission (14.11% vs. 12.38%; RR 1.14, 95% CI 1.00, 1.30; p=0.0418). ED length of stay was also greater for the discordant group (3.0 vs. 2.9 h; difference 8.8 min; 95% CI 0.1, 0.2; p<0.001): These findings indicate discordant admission and discharge diagnoses are associated with increases in morbidity and mortality. Further research should identify modifiable causes of discordance.


Author(s):  
Wesam Sourour ◽  
Valeria Sanchez ◽  
Michel Sourour ◽  
Jordan Burdine ◽  
Elizabeth Rodriguez Lien ◽  
...  

Objective This study aimed to determine if prolonged antibiotic use at birth in neonates with a negative blood culture increases the total cost of hospital stay. Study design This was a retrospective study performed at a 60-bed level IV neonatal intensive care unit. Neonates born <30 weeks of gestation or <1,500 g between 2016 and 2018 who received antibiotics were included. A multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted to determine if clinical factors contributed to increased hospital cost or length of stay. Results In total, 190 patients met inclusion criteria with 94 infants in the prolonged antibiotic group and 96 in the control group. Prolonged antibiotic use was associated with an increase length of hospital stay of approximately 31.87 days, resulting in a $69,946 increase in total cost of hospitalization. Conclusion Prolonged antibiotics in neonates with negative blood culture were associated with significantly longer hospital length of stay and increased total cost of hospitalization. Key Points


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S149-S149
Author(s):  
Mohammed Aldhaeefi ◽  
Jeffrey Pearson ◽  
Sanjat Kanjilal ◽  
Brandon Dionne

Abstract Background Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia is a significant cause of mortality. Penicillin (PCN) may have a role in the treatment of penicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (PSSA) bacteremia as it has a narrower spectrum of activity than cefazolin and is better tolerated than antistaphylococcal penicillins (ASPs). The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of PCN versus cefazolin or ASPs in the treatment of PSSA bacteremia. Methods This is a single-center, retrospective study at a tertiary academic medical center. All patients with a PSSA blood culture from January 1, 2012 to September 1, 2019 were screened. Patients were excluded if they were treated with a definitive antibiotic (defined as antimicrobial therapy received 72 hours after positive blood culture) other than the study comparators, or if they received combination antibiotic therapy &gt;72 hours from the initial positive blood culture result. The primary outcome was 60-day clinical failure, which was a composite endpoint of change in antibiotic after 72 hours of definitive therapy, recurrence of PSSA bacteremia, infection-related readmission, or all-cause mortality. Results Of 277 patients with PSSA bacteremia, 101 patients were included in the study; 62 (61%) were male and 11 (11%) had a β-lactam allergy. At baseline, 40 patients (40%) had hardware, 25 (25%) had an intravenous line, 6 (6%) were on dialysis, and 4 (4%) had active IV drug use, with similar distribution across antibiotic groups. Penicillin was the most common antibiotic used (Table 1). There was a significant difference among groups with respect to the 60-day clinical failure (log-rank p=0.019). In terms of unadjusted 60-day clinical failure, penicillin had similar outcomes to cefazolin (95% CI -0.29 to 0.104, p=0.376), however, it had statistically significant better outcomes in comparison to the ASPs, nafcillin or oxacillin (95% CI 0.023 to 0.482, p=0.031) (Table 1). Table 1. 60-day outcomes of PSSA bacteremia Conclusion Penicillin is effective and safe in the treatment of PSSA bacteremia and may be preferable to antistaphylococcal penicillins Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


Stroke ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuma Nakagawa ◽  
Matthew Koenig ◽  
Todd Seto ◽  
Susan Asai ◽  
Cherylee Chang

Introduction: Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (NHPI) with ischemic stroke are younger and have more comorbidities compared to other major racial-ethnic groups. However, their impact on hospital length of stay (LOS) after ischemic stroke has not been studied. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that NHPI race is associated with a longer hospital LOS after ischemic stroke. Methods: Data from 2004 to 2010 were retrospectively obtained from the Get With the Guidelines-Stroke (GWTG-Stroke) database from The Queen’s Medical Center, the only primary stroke center for the state of Hawaii. Multivariable analyses were performed using a stepwise linear regression model to identify factors predictive of hospital LOS after ischemic stroke. Results: A total of 1921 patients hospitalized for ischemic stroke (NHPI 20%, Asians 53%, whites 24%, blacks 0.8%, others 2%) were studied. Univariate analyses showed that NHPI were younger (mean ages, NHPI 60±14 vs. Asians 72±14, p <0.0001; vs. whites 71±14, p <0.0001) and had higher prevalence of diabetes (NHPI 53% vs. Asians 67%, p <0.0001; vs. whites 22%, p <0.0001), hypertension (NHPI 82% vs. whites 22%, p <0.0001), prior stroke or TIA (NHPI 30% vs. Asians 23%, p =0.01), smoking (NHPI 19% vs. Asians 14%, p =0.01), dyslipidemia (NHPI 43% vs. whites 34%, p <0.01), and longer hospital LOS (NHPI 11±17 days vs. Asians 7±9 days, p <0.0001; whites 8±17 days, p <0.05). After adjusting for age, race, gender, and risk factors with predefined significance ( p <0.1), independent predictors for hospital LOS were NHPI race (parameter estimate, 2.67; 95% CI, 1.09 - 4.22, p =0.001), atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter (parameter estimate, 2.22; 95% CI, 0.53 - 3.90, p =0.01), and age (parameter estimate, -0.04; 95% CI, -0.09 - -0.002, p =0.04). Conclusions: Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders with ischemic stroke have a longer hospital length of stay compared to Asians and whites. Further studies are needed to assess if other socioeconomic factors contribute to the observed differences.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuan-Ting Robin Lin ◽  
Hsiu-Yin Chiang ◽  
Ya-Luan Hsiao ◽  
Han-Chun Huang ◽  
Shih-Ni Chang ◽  
...  

<b>OBJECTIVE</b><b> </b> <p>To evaluate the effect of preoperative blood glucose (POBG) level on hospital length of stay (LOS) in patients undergoing appendectomy or laparoscopic cholecystectomy. </p> <p><b>RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS</b></p> <p>We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients aged ≥18 years who had undergone either appendectomy or laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedures between 2005 and 2016 at a tertiary medical center in Taiwan. The association between POBG level and LOS was evaluated using a multivariable quasi-Poisson regression with robust variance. Multiple imputations were performed to replace missing values.</p> <p><b>RESULTS</b></p> <p>We included a total of 8,291 patients; 4,025 patients underwent appendectomy (appendectomy group) and 4,266 underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy (laparoscopic cholecystectomy group). In the appendectomy group, patients with POBG levels of ≥123 mg/dL (adjusted relative risk [aRR], 1.19; 95% CI, 1.06–1.33) had a 19% higher risk of having a LOS of >3 days than did those with POBG levels of <106 mg/dL. In the laparoscopic cholecystectomy group, patients with POBG levels of ≥128 mg/dL also had a significantly higher risk of having a LOS of >3 days (aRR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.07–1.29) than did those with POBG levels of <102 mg/dL. A positive dose–response curve between POBG and an adjusted risk of a LOS of >3 days was observed, despite the curve starts to flatten at a POBG level of approximately 130 mg/dL.</p> <p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b></p> <p>We demonstrated that a higher POBG level was significantly associated with a prolonged LOS for patients undergoing appendectomy and laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The optimal POBG level may be lower than that commonly perceived.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew H. Hughes ◽  
David Horrocks ◽  
Curtis Leung ◽  
Melissa B. Richardson ◽  
Ann M. Sheehy ◽  
...  

Abstract Background As healthcare systems strive for efficiency, hospital “length of stay outliers” have the potential to significantly impact a hospital’s overall utilization. There is a tendency to exclude such “outlier” stays in local quality improvement and data reporting due to their assumed rare occurrence and disproportionate ability to skew mean and other summary data. This study sought to assess the influence of length of stay (LOS) outliers on inpatient length of stay and hospital capacity over a 5-year period at a large urban academic medical center. Methods From January 2014 through December 2019, 169,645 consecutive inpatient cases were analyzed and assigned an expected LOS based on national academic center benchmarks. Cases in the top 1% of national sample LOS by diagnosis were flagged as length of stay outliers. Results From 2014 to 2019, mean outlier LOS increased (40.98 to 45.11 days), as did inpatient LOS with outliers excluded (5.63 to 6.19 days). Outlier cases increased both in number (from 297 to 412) and as a percent of total discharges (0.98 to 1.56%), and outlier patient days increased from 6.7 to 9.8% of total inpatient plus observation days over the study period. Conclusions Outlier cases utilize a disproportionate and increasing share of hospital resources and available beds. The current tendency to exclude such outlier stays in data reporting due to assumed rare occurrence may need to be revisited. Outlier stays require distinct and targeted interventions to appropriately reduce length of stay to both improve patient care and maintain hospital capacity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 80 (8) ◽  
pp. 801-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh Ramanathan ◽  
Patricia Leavell ◽  
Luke G. Wolfe ◽  
Therese M. Duane

Patient safety indicators (PSI), developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, use administrative billing data to measure and compare patient safety events at medical centers. We retrospectively examined whether PSIs accurately reflect patients’ risk of mortality, hospital length of stay, and intensive care unit (ICU) requirements at an academic medical center. Surgical patient records with PSIs were reviewed between October 2011 and September 2012 at our urban academic medical center. Primary outcomes studied included mortality, hospital length of stay, and ICU requirements. Subset analysis was performed for each PSI and its association with the outcome measures. PSIs were more common among surgical patients who died as compared with those alive at discharge (35.3 vs 2.7 PSIs/100 patients, P < 0.01). Although patients who died with PSIs had shorter hospital courses, they had a significantly greater ICU requirement than those without a PSI (96.0 vs 61.1%, P < 0.01) and patients who were alive at discharge (96.0 vs 48.0%, P < 0.01). The most frequently associated PSIs with mortality were postoperative metabolic derangements (41.7%), postoperative sepsis (38.5%), and pressure ulcers (33.3%). PSIs occur at a higher frequency in surgical patients who die and are associated with increased ICU requirements.


Geriatrics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Jessica S. Morton ◽  
Alex Tang ◽  
Michael J. Moses ◽  
Dustin Hamilton ◽  
Neville Crick ◽  
...  

The demand for TKA continues to rise within the United States, while increasing quality measures and cost containment became the basis of reimbursement for hospital systems. Length of stay is a major driver in the cost of TKA. Early mobilization with physical therapy has been shown to increase range of motion and decrease complications, but with mixed results in regards to length of stay. We postulate that initiating physical therapy on post-operative day zero will decrease length of stay in an urban public hospital. Retrospective chart review was performed at a large, urban, public academic medical center to identify patients who have had a primary TKA over the course of a 3-year period. Groups who underwent post-operative day zero therapy were compared with those who initiated physical therapy on post-operative day one. Length of stay was the primary outcome. Patient demographic characteristics and discharge disposition were also collected. There were 98 patients in the post-operative day-one physical therapy cohort and 58 in the post-operative day zero physical therapy group. Hospital length of stay was significantly decreased in the post-operative day zero physical therapy group. (p < 0.01) There was no difference in discharge disposition between the two groups.


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