Sepsis: reducing false positive test results produces better outcomes
A scientific study of Magnolia Medical Technologies’ Initial Specimen Diversion Device (ISDD) shows that the test can be used successfully to reduce false positive results for sepsis by preventing blood culture contamination. The peer-reviewed study was published in the Journal of Hospital Infection.
Each year, tens of millions of patients in the U.S. require blood cultures to help diagnose blood stream infections and sepsis but the tests aren’t always accurate because bacteria enters the specimen during the collection process. In fact, an average of 40 percent of positive results are false-positive due to blood culture contamination which leads to longer length of stay, increased an unnecessary clinical costs and patient dissatisfaction.
“The challenge is that between 30 percent and 50 percent of positive blood cultures are actually false-positive due to contamination,” said Bob Gerberich, CCO, Magnolia Medical Technologies in a recent HPN feature on diagnosing and treating sepsis. “This leaves physicians with a dilemma in determining the appropriate treatment for patients with positive blood culture results indicating a probable contaminant. More often than not, antibiotic treatment is continued, and additional testing is ordered.”
In an age of increasing antibiotic resistance and healthcare-associated infections, clinicians are eager to diagnose and treat their patients correctly and quickly.
In this latest study, Magnolia’s Steripath ISDD was studied by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Wing Tech Inc. and they’ve concluded that both clinical and economic outcomes can be significantly improved when the test is used.
The study performed a retrospective matched survival analysis of patients with symptoms compatible with septicemia to determine how blood culture results impact antibiotic use, length of stay, healthcare-associated conditions (HACs) and the associated healthcare costs. The study reported that the use of Steripath ISDD is a highly effective intervention for reducing costs related to false-positive blood cultures saving the average-sized hospital $1.9 million annually and preventing 34 HACs, including three Clostridium difficile infections.
The Steripath Gen2 ISDD, as described in Magnolia’s news release, is a sterile, vein-to-bottle closed-system device that mechanically diverts, sequesters and isolates the initial 1.5 to 2.0 mL of blood, the portion known to contain contaminants. The device then opens a second independent sterile blood flow path for specimen collection. The company says five peer-reviewed publications support the clinical and cost-effectiveness of Steripath with reductions of blood culture contamination rates by as much as 92 percent with sustained rates as low as 0.2 percent in the Emergency Department.
Also, according to the study, a single false-positive blood culture event results in an additional 2.4 days stay in the hospital for the patient, $4,817 in incremental hospital costs on average and a $7.5 billion burden on the U.S. healthcare system. Standardizing to the Steripath ISDD was determined to be the most effective method to address this, even for hospitals with dedicated phlebotomy teams.
This analysis, led by health economics analysis firm Wing Tech Inc., builds on the numerous clinical studies that have demonstrated sustained clinical and economic improvement by reducing blood culture contamination using Steripath, stated the press release. The manuscript is now available online and will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Hospital Infection.
“Our study, using contemporary data from the U.S. healthcare system, confirms the substantial clinical and economic burden associated with contaminated blood cultures,” said Benjamin Geisler, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Consultant at Wing Tech Inc., and Attending Physician, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. “The Steripath Initial Specimen Diversion Device can be expected to decrease the clinical burden and unnecessary healthcare utilization that leads to billions of dollars of avoidable U.S. healthcare costs each year.”
A recent analysis by Premier Inc. found that its member hospitals achieved a 15 percent decline in the incidence of hospital-associated sepsis over the last three years. However, patients who develop sepsis in the hospital are becoming sicker, and the average cost of these cases has increased by more than 20 percent. The good news is that the organization also identified four keys to successfully reduce the incidence and severity of sepsis cases.
