Reductions in positive Clostridioides difficile events reportable to National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) with adoption of reflex enzyme immunoassay (EIA) testing in 13 Atlanta hospitals.
Dana GoodenoughSamantha SeftonElizabeth OvertonElizabeth SmithColleen S KraftJay B VarkeyScott K FridkinPublished in: Infection control and hospital epidemiology (2021)
In total, 13 facilities changed C. difficile testing to reflexive testing by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) only after a positive nucleic acid-amplification test (NAAT); the standardized infection ratio (SIR) decreased by 46% (range, -12% to -71% per hospital). Changing testing practice greatly influenced a performance metric without changing C. difficile infection prevention practice.