Background: Healthcare costs in the United States are exorbitant and excessive lab utilization contributes significantly1. Daily labs (DL), typically consisting of basic metabolic panels (BMPs) and complete blood counts (CBC) are often over-ordered for hospital inpatients2. This leads to increased costs, limits phlebotomy resources, iatrogenic anemia, patient discomfort and interruption of sleep3. The Choosing Wisely® [...]

Background: Central line associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) is the 8th leading cause of death in the United States, causing 100,000 deaths annually. Each CLABSI costs about $56,000 per patient and increases length of hospital stay by an average of 3 weeks. Femoral lines have been shown to have the highest risk of infection compared to [...]

Background: Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI) and Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI) carry a huge health care burden and is associated with increased length of stay and potential harm for the patient. There is an estimated total healthcare cost of $896 per infection for CAUTI and $45,814 per infection associated with CLABSI. The [...]

Background: Literature on the timing of inpatient laboratory test collection is limited. Most studies suggest that physicians and patients are satisfied with morning collection [1], more specifically, intermittent late morning lab collection to decrease sleep disruption [2,3]. Evening labs put increasing demands on healthcare providers given limited resources available outside standard work hours. We sought [...]

Background: As hospitals focus on central venous catheter associated bloodstream infections (CVC-BSI), the impact of peripheral venous catheter (PVC) associated bloodstream infections (PVC-BSI) may be underappreciated. There are conflicting recommendations on how to manage PVCs, including when to replace them (1)(2)(3), and inconsistencies in nursing practice in following PVC management guidelines (4). There are an [...]