Urine Trouble? Opportunities to Improve Urine-Based Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases

This webinar was recorded live on August 28, 2024.
It is available on demand through August 31, 2026.
Register above for access

Description

Recent advances in urine collection devices and diagnostic testing have provided opportunities for clinical laboratories to improve upon stagnant practices that may have deleterious effects on test utilization and result quality. Urine cultures are the gold standard for the diagnosis of urinary tract infection (UTI), one of the most common causes of bacterial infection, and therefore account for much of the workload in clinical microbiology laboratories. Contamination and workflow inefficiencies with urine specimens can lead to increased workload for the laboratory and antibiotic misuse in patients.

Join Dr. Melanie L. Yarbrough to discuss the importance of pre-analytical variables in urine testing, describe the implementation and impact of reflex algorithms on urine culture utilization, and describe how laboratory-based initiatives to reduce unnecessary urine testing can improve workflow efficiency and impact patient care.

Target audience

This activity is designed for lab supervisors, lab directors (and/or assistant directors), lab managers (supervisory and/or non-supervisory), medical technologists, pathologists, in-training individuals, and other laboratory professionals overseeing/conducting within this topic.

Learning objectives

At the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Describe optimal urine collection and transport guidance for infectious disease testing. 
• Assess the workflow and advantages of reflex algorithms for urine culture in clinical laboratories.
• Evaluate the clinical and microbiologic impact of automation implementation for urine cultures."

Faculty

Melanie Yarbrough, PhD, D(ABMM), D(ABCC)
Associate Professor of Pathology and Immunology
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis 
Medical Director of Clinical Microbiology
Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO, USA

Disclosures and statement of independence

The Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (formerly AACC) is dedicated to ensuring balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all educational activities. All participating planning committee members and faculty are required to disclose to the program audience any financial relationships related to the subject matter of this program. Disclosure information is reviewed in advance in order to manage and resolve any possible conflicts of interest. The intent of this disclosure is to provide participants with information on which they can make their own judgments.

The following faculty reported financial relationships:

• Melanie Yarbrough, PhD, D(ABMM), D(ABCC)
  • Honorarium/Expenses: bioMérieux, BD
  • Grant/Research Support: bioMérieux, Pattern Bioscience, Beckman Coulter
  • Board/Committee Membership/Advisory Board: Shionogi

Content validity

All recommendations involving clinical medicine are based on evidence accepted within the profession of medicine as adequate justification for their indications and contraindications in the care of patients; AND/OR all scientific research referred to or reported in support or justification of a patient care recommendation conforms to generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.

Accreditation statement

This activity is approved for 1.0 ACCENT® continuing education credits. Activity ID #4322. This activity was planned in accordance with ACCENT® Standards and Policies.

Successful completion statement

Verification of Participation certificates are provided to registered participants based on completion of the activity, in its entirety, and the activity evaluation. For questions regarding continuing education, please email [email protected].