There is a critical nationwide shortage of blood culture bottles scheduled to last through July and August due to a change in the manufacturing process of our major supplier. This has resulted in all hospitals receiving a reduced allotment. Dr. Monica Ianosi-Irimie and Dr. Dejan Nikolic as our laboratory leadership and Dr. John Porter as the Medical Director of supply chain are monitoring the situation to ensure timely delivery of this allotment and researching alternative sources.
To maintain the quality and safety of the care we provide to all of our Cooper patients, we need your help to conserve our limited supply of these bottles. We are working closely with Dr. Raquel Nahra, our Hospital Epidemiologist, nursing leadership, and the leaders of our high-usage areas (ED, ICU, and Hospital Medicine) to ensure that all patients who need blood cultures will have continued access to them. Below are recommendations and guidelines created by our stakeholder team for immediate implementation:
- Cooper’s Emergency Department leadership has agreed to stop the practice of “Draw and Hold” blood cultures without a provider order. If you are consulted from the ED, please note this change as these will not be automatically drawn upon patient arrival or admission.
- Reassess if daily blood cultures are indeed necessary and will change the management of your patient rather than ordering daily blood cultures as a standing order. Orders should be based on your evaluation of the patient for that day. Residents and fellows should consult with their senior team member or attending if needed prior to ordering blood cultures.
- Decision support algorithms for the ED and hospital units should be followed prior to ordering blood cultures and are attached here. These algorithms will be available on the Firstline app and on the homepage of Pulse when you click on the banner.
Dr. Snehal Gandhi and his informatics team are working on Epic alerts.
Please make every effort to follow the above recommendations and guidelines. Our team will continue to assess the supply of blood culture bottles and if we are still experiencing a shortage, we will be instituting additional steps to assure the judicial use of these tests.
If you have any questions about the shortage or the algorithm, please contact Dr. Monica Ianosi-Irimie or Dr. Raquel Nahra.
As always, thank you for your continued outstanding care of our patients.