Urines get no respect: From afterthought to asset in diagnostic stewardship

Description

Urine culture contamination can compromise diagnostic accuracy and contribute to inappropriate antimicrobial use yet remains a common challenge across healthcare settings. Identifying and addressing these preanalytical issues is essential to effective diagnostic stewardship.

In this webinar, Andrea Cromer examines a diagnostic stewardship initiative that began with the discovery of a urine culture contamination rate exceeding 30 percent. The presentation traces the steps taken by an Infection Prevention team to define the problem, review existing evidence, and apply a Lean Six Sigma methodology to guide improvement efforts. Through this case-based example, attendees gain insight into how a structured, reproducible approach can support diagnostic stewardship and improve preanalytical practices in diverse clinical environments.

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, fellows, residents, 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 the key components of diagnostic stewardship as they relate to urine cultures.
• Articulate the connection between diagnostic stewardship and antimicrobial stewardship.
• Identify three examples of Six Sigma tools that can support diagnostic stewardship initiatives.

Faculty

Andrea Lynn Cromer BSN, MPH, CIC CPH
Director Infection Prevention, Hamilton Medical Center
Inman, South Carolina

Disclosures and statement of independence

The Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM) 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:

• Andrea Lynn Cromer BSN, MPH, CIC CPH
  
  • Honorarium: BD
  • Consulting Fees: BD

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 will be submitted for 1.0 ACCENT® continuing education credits

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].