Blood culture ordering after sepsis alerts and subsequent patient outcomes: an electronic health record-based study

Ling Li, Kasun Rathnayake, Scott Walter, Mary Fullick, Amith Shetty, Paul Hudson, Harvey Lander, Johanna I. Westbrook

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Abstract

Sepsis is a global health priority associated with high mortality. Clinical decision support systems have been developed to support clinicians with sepsis management. Ordering blood cultures (BCs) for suspected sepsis patients are strongly recommended by clinical guidelines. However, limited evidence exists investigating BC ordering following sepsis alerts and subsequent patient outcomes. This study aimed to investigate this issue using electronic health record data from an acute care hospital in Australia. Of 4,092 patients, only 16.6% had a BC ordered following a sepsis alert. The median time from the first sepsis alert to a BC order was 15.3 hours. Patients had 5.89 times higher odds of being diagnosed with sepsis if a BC was ordered following a sepsis alert than those without BC ordered (p<0.0001). Further investigation is needed to understand reasons behind the delay or failure to order a BC despite receiving electronic sepsis alerts and how decision support can be optimized to improve patient outcomes.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMEDINFO 2023 - The future is accessible
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the 19th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics
EditorsJen Bichel-Findlay, Paula Otero, Philip Scott, Elaine Huesing
Place of PublicationAmsterdam
PublisherIOS Press
Pages314-318
Number of pages5
ISBN (Electronic)9781643684574
ISBN (Print)9781643684567
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Jan 2024
EventMEDINFO 2023 - Sydney, Australia
Duration: 8 Jul 202312 Jul 2023

Publication series

NameStudies in Health Technology and Informatics
PublisherIOS Press
Volume310
ISSN (Print)0926-9630
ISSN (Electronic)1879-8365

Conference

ConferenceMEDINFO 2023
Country/TerritoryAustralia
CitySydney
Period8/07/2312/07/23

Bibliographical note

Copyright the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) and IOS Press 2024. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

  • Sepsis
  • computerized clinical decision support
  • blood culture
  • antibiotics appropriateness

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