Impact of Blood Culture Contamination on Patients and Health Care Systems: A Review of QI Strategies Within the ED

Emergency departments are a primary site for evaluation of pediatric patients presenting with fever. Part of this evaluation may include the collection of blood cultures to rule out infection from a bacterial pathogen. Many of these samples, however, yield results that are not representative of a true bacterial infection, causing undue burden on patients and their families and adding considerable costs for the health care system. Reducing the rate of false-positive blood cultures may be achieved through quality improvement methodology. Strategies for the reduction of blood culture contamination, including process improvement and targeted education, are discussed in this review.