Economic Advantages
 
In addition to providing quicker, more accurate results, CultureStat provides significant economic advantages both to the hospital generally and to the hospital laboratory specifically.

Hospitals:
Increased Ability to Treat on Outpatient Basis in the ER:  Hospitals often have incentives to treat patients in the ER rather than admit them, because (i) the costs of a patient's stay for a UTI may be higher than the reimbursement rate for such ailment, and (ii) if a hospital assigns the wrong DRG code for a patient upon admission (for example, it assigns the DRG code for a UTI and the patient has some other less severe ailment), the hospital risks not getting reimbursed at all or getting reimbursed at a lower rate. Because CultureStat can give feedback so quickly, it increases the hospital’s ability to treat patients in the ER without admitting them. For patients that are admitted from the ER, the quick feedback from CultureStat can insure that the correct DRG codes are applied and that the hospital receives proper reimbursement for the condition treated.

Shorter Length of Stay for Admitted Patients: By cutting the testing time by 21-24 hours or more, hospitals will often reduce the length of stay for admitted patients that potentially have a UTI by at least one day and sometimes two or three days. The reduced cost of treating such patients will result in increased profits for the hospitals, as the reimbursement levels based on the DRG codes remain constant.

Hospital Laboratories:
Because it is so easy to use and requires much less operator time than plating, CultureStat can be easily incorporated into a lab’s work flow. Once fully utilized, CultureStat will significantly cut down on lab time spent on urine cultures, so personnel can assist in other areas.  Larger hospitals may be able to reduce staffing in the laboratory.
 
Specific labor and materials savings can be realized by the laboratory due to the following factors:
  • Only confirmed positives need be plated for speciation, so first-round plating is eliminated and second-round plating is reduced to 15-20% of all samples.
  • Most testing can occur outside of the laboratory, and data can be sent electronically to the laboratory for review.
  • Testing time, including identification of the sample and recording of results, takes approximately 20-30 seconds, compared to 2-3 minutes for a plate. Approximately 120 tests can be run per hour by one lab technician, compared to 25 plates per hour. Time saved can be used for other purposes within the lab.
  • Increased efficiency means that samples sit for less time within the lab, so samples can be tested more quickly in accordance with Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (formerly NCCLS) guidelines.
  • Automatic data logging reduces recording time; the database is searchable, sort-able and can be downloaded to the hospital’s primary database.
  • Bar coding reduces identification time and reduces potential for misidentification.
  • Use of CultureStat eliminates need to purchase preservatives, transport vials and other ancillary products.