Reducing Unnecessary and Duplicate Ordering for Ovum and Parasite Examinations and Clostridium difficile PCR in Immunocompromised Patients by Using an Alert at the Time of Request in the Order Management System

J Clin Microbiol. 2015 Aug;53(8):2745-8. doi: 10.1128/JCM.00968-15. Epub 2015 Jun 10.

Abstract

We implemented hospital information system (HIS) alerts to deter unnecessary test orders for ovum and parasite (O&P) exams and Clostridium difficile PCR. The HIS alerts decreased noncompliant O&P orders (orders after >72 h of hospitalization) from 49.8% to 30.9%, an overall decrease of 19%, and reduced noncompliant C. difficile PCR orders (orders <7 days after a previous positive result) from 30.6% to 19.2%, an overall decrease of 31.9%.

MeSH terms

  • Clostridium Infections / diagnosis*
  • Diagnostic Tests, Routine / statistics & numerical data
  • Hospital Information Systems / organization & administration*
  • Humans
  • Immunocompromised Host
  • Parasite Egg Count / statistics & numerical data
  • Parasitic Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction / statistics & numerical data