Episode 44: June 26, 2019 - Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infection Surveillance in Home Infusion Therapy

The challenge of defining CLABSI in home infusion therapy.  

Sara C. Keller, MD, MPH, MSHP

Assistant Professor of Medicine Infection Disease, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Sara C. Keller, MD, MPH, MSHP, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Disease at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is also Associate Faculty in the Armstrong Institute of Patient Safety and Quality at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr Keller's research interests focus on improving the quality of care of patients receiving parenteral antibiotics outside the hospital, measures and outcomes among patients with central venous catheters in the home, and improving ambulatory antimicrobial stewardship. 

Host: Dawn Berndt, DNP, RN, CRNI® – INS Infusion Nurse Educator

Guest: Sara C. Keller, MD, MPH, MSHP

Central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) prevention efforts in the acute care setting have reduced national CLABSI rates by 50% over the past 20 years. This increase in patient safety in acute care settings is commendable; however, in the home infusion setting, there is currently no standardized definition for CLABSI, no reporting mechanism, or mandatory reporting required for CLABSI. This is significant in that currently1.24 million courses of home infusion therapy are delivered via central vascular access devices (CVADs) to 829,000 patients each year in the U.S. More importantly, home infusion therapy is increasing at a rate of 8% annually. Listen as Dr. Sara Keller discusses collaborative work to help define CLABSI in the home infusion setting which will foster surveillance methodology and improvement processes in this burgeoning patient care environment.

Resources:
1. Keller SC, Alexander MC, Williams D, et al. Perspectives on central-line–associated bloodstream infection surveillance in home infusion therapy. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol, 2019;40(6), 729-731. doi:10.1017/ice.2019.90.
2. Keller SC, Williams D, Rock C, et al. A new frontier: Central line-associated bloodstream infection surveillance in home infusion therapy. Am J Infect Control, 2018; 46(12), 1419-1421. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2018.05.016.

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