Three Percent is For Wimps: Achieving and Maintaining Blood Culture Contamination Rates Below 1%

Cardinal Health Lab Briefings webinar series

This webinar is presented by Dennis J. Ernst MT (ASCP), NCPT(NCCT).

Title: Three Percent is For Wimps: Achieving and Maintaining Blood Culture Contamination Rates Below 1%

Overview

Blood Culture Contamination is an enormous problem in healthcare delivery systems everywhere, costing facilities on average over $1 million every year¹. The current industry average of 3 percent² is neither acceptable nor sustainable in today's climate without serious consequences to patients treated unnecessarily, a healthcare facility's financial wellbeing, and contribution to the global threat of antibiotic resistance.

This presentation will include discussions on the most commonly committed errors in the collection of blood cultures that lead to contamination and false positives, the impact of contaminated cultures on the patient and the facility, and sustainable strategies to reduce blood culture contamination to one percent or less. Strategies will not only include effectively correcting human error, but effective tracking, staff commitment, and emerging technologies.

Objectives

Upon completion of this continuing education activity, the participant should be able to:

1. Define the impact of blood culture contamination on patients and the facility
2. List the most common human errors that contaminate blood cultures
3. Discuss a new technique that significantly, immediately, and sustainably reduces contamination rates

Intended audience

This continuing education credit is intended for use by clinical laboratory professionals who are interested in learning about achieving blood culture contamination rates below 1%.

Take the course and obtain CE credits

Attend this basic level webinars at no cost.  Cardinal Health is approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E.® Program.  This webinar is managed by Whitehat Communications and offer one P.A.C.E.® Continuing Education contact hour for up to six months after the live event.

One P.A.C.E.® credit is available upon completion of the course: Three Percent is For Wimps: Achieving and Maintaining Blood Culture Contamination Rates Below 1%

P.A.C.E.® credits are widely recognized in the clinical laboratory profession and can be used to fulfill most continuing education requirements.

References:

¹Albert, R. K., & Zwang, O. (2017, May 29). Improving Cost Effectiveness of Blood Cultures. Retrieved from https://www.journalofhospitalmedicine.com/jhospmed/article/126938/improving-cost-effectiveness-blood-cultures.

²Ford, A. (2017, October 4). With diversion, lower blood culture contamination rates. Retrieved from https://www.captodayonline.com/diversion-lower-blood-culture-contamination-rates/