Impact of an electronic smart order-set for diagnostic stewardship of Clostridiodes difficile infection (CDI) in a community healthcare system in South Florida

Abstract

Background

Inappropriate testing for Clostridiodes difficile infection (CDI) increases health care onset cases and contributes to overdiagnosis and overtreatment of patients in a community health care system.

Methods

An electronic smart order set for the testing of CDI was created and implemented to improve the appropriateness of testing. A retrospective review of patients who were tested for CDI, pre and post, was conducted to determine if inappropriate stool testing for CDI decreased post-implementation of the order set.

Results

224 patients were tested for CDI during the study period with the post-implementation period having a higher proportion of patients who met appropriate testing criteria defined by presence of diarrhea (80.5% vs 61.3%; P = .002). The rate of inappropriate CDI stool testing decreased from 31.1% to 11.0% after implementation (P < .001). A higher proportion of CDI patients were readmitted within 30 days of discharge (54.2% vs 33.0%; P = 0.001) during the post-implementation period.

Conclusions

There was a significant reduction in inappropriate CDI testing following the implementation of the order set. There was an observed increase in the proportion of patients who underwent recent gastrointestinal surgery which may have contributed to the increase in 30-day readmission rates during the post-implementation period.