Testing for Hospital-Acquired Infections 

As has been widely reported, as of October 1, 2008, Medicare no longer reimburses for certain hospital-acquired conditions. Among the more common hospital-acquired conditions are hospital-acquired urinary tract infections, which are often contracted by patients from the use of catheters. Many private insurers and state-funded health insurance programs are following the precedent set by Medicare and will no longer reimburse for such “hospital-acquired infections”, or “HAI’s.”

This lack of reimbursement can have a dramatic impact on hospitals, as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimated that the cumulative charges to Medicare for hospital stays due to hospital-acquired UTI’s in 2007 was over $500 million. Hospitals therefore are strongly motivated to prove whenever possible that infections occurring either immediately prior to, or immediately following, a hospital stay are not HAI’s. The only way to produce evidence that such infections are not HAI’s is to test patients for such infections upon admission (when a positive result will prove the infection was "present on admission" and not an HAI) and upon dismissal (when a negative result will prove the patient did not contract an HAI during the hospital stay).  

Because testing for UTI’s with plates takes at least 24 hours and requires significant investment in laboratory materials and staffing, hospitals are generally unwilling to test for HAI’s using traditional methods. The CultureStat Rapid UTI Detection System, however, provides an ideal solution for hospitals seeking to test for HAI’s. Testing with CultureStat only takes approximately 20-30 seconds of time per sample, and results on most samples are available in 30-60 minutes. Data from the testing is automatically recorded and stored by the CultureStat System’s HIPAA-compliant database program, and results can be easily printed on labels and added to a patient’s records from his or her hospital stay.

To get additional information regarding how CultureStatcan allow your facility to test for HAI’s quickly, accurately and inexpensively, please contact us.