Menu
Back to Equity and Access
08/01/26

Blood culture practices in pediatric intensive care units to inform a diagnostic stewardship intervention.

Kim, Sarah D; Dieterly, Hope; Milstone, Aaron; Bonafide, Christopher; Elhaissouni, Nora; Woods-Hill, Charlotte; and the BrighT STAR LIBRA authorship group. Hosp Pediatr.

Collection Topics
Big Three Conditions Business Case for Excellence Tests, Screening, and Laboratory Processes
Share

Most recent

Primary care signals and diagnostic pathways before incident heart failure: a systematic scoping review.

Jerjes, El-Osta, Jhass, et al., J Prim Care Community Health.
09/09/26 Big Three Conditions Culture, Work System, and Implementation Epidemiology

A business case for diagnostic stewardship: a practical guide from the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Diagnostic Stewardship Special Interest Group.

Turbett, Daragiati, T. Chu, et al., Antimicrob Steward Healthc Epidemiol.
09/01/26 Business Case for Excellence Tests, Screening, and Laboratory Processes

Young women diagnosed with breast cancer: why is no one telling me to get a mammogram?

Jerome-D'Emilia, Suplee, Meyers, et al., J Nurs Scholarsh.
09/01/26 Big Three Conditions Equity, Access, and Timeliness

Summary

Diagnostic excellence includes obtaining the right tests for the right patients while avoiding unnecessary testing. This multisite, observational audit examined 1,068 blood cultures across nine pediatric intensive care units. Only 6% were positive, and more than half were obtained despite a documented alternative source of symptoms. Findings support standardized thresholds and diagnostic stewardship to reduce potentially low-value blood cultures.
Read the paper
Kim SD, Dieterly H, Milstone A, et al. Blood culture practices in pediatric intensive care units to inform a diagnostic stewardship intervention. Hosp Pediatr. 2026;16(8):e632-e637.