Quality In, Clarity Out: Improving Urine Culture Performance Through Multidisciplinary Interventions

Tuesday, July 28
3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Exhibit Hall Theater 3
Presented by BD

Overview

Urine culture is one of the most common and important microbiological tests used to diagnose urinary tract infections, and its effectiveness depends on specimen quality, testing algorithms, and stewardship efforts. These challenges are often amplified in large, community-based healthcare systems due to variability in collection practices and testing workflows.

In this presentation, a phased, multi-hospital system study examines urine culture contamination reduction strategies aimed at improving test quality and supporting diagnostic stewardship. The session reviews baseline contamination trends, approaches to operationally defining contamination, and system-level considerations that informed intervention design. Collaboration between the clinical laboratory, frontline clinical teams, and industry partners supported analysis of laboratory and clinical data using BD HealthSight™ MedMined™ database to evaluate pre- and post-implementation outcomes across multiple hospitals, including impacts on antimicrobial utilization and Clostridioides difficile infection rates.

Speaker

Siu Kei (Jacky) Chow, PhD, D(ABMM)
Clinical Laboratory Director
MultiCare Health System