Using Lean Management to Reduce Blood Culture Contamination

Background: Blood culture contamination (BCC) is a common and avoidable complication of patient care and incurs considerable cost. A quality improvement (QI) initiative was undertaken at a large Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center to reduce the BCC rate. Methods: Lean management QI methods, including a rapid process improvement workshop (RPIW), were used to identify root causes of variation in blood culture procedures and countermeasures (potential improvement strategies) to address each problem were developed. BCC rates were collected for five and one quarter years, including the pre-RPIW (baseline) period, and changes in the contamination rates were calculated. The observed change in BCC rates was compared to a forecast of the pre-RPIW trend and estimated BCCs avoided. Results for the primary medical center were compared with those of a similarly complex VA medical center during the same time periods using difference-in-differences methodology. Results: Qualitative assessment of the processes of care identified four root cause problems, each of which was addressed with countermeasures. The BCC rate at the primary medical center decreased significantly from the baseline period in each year of follow-up, improving from 4.2% in the 19-month baseline period to 2.8% in the last 12 months of follow-up (April 2013-March 2014), while changes from baseline in the BCC rate at the comparison site were significant in only one year of follow-up. An estimated 261 BCCs were avoided at the primary medical center in the follow-up period. Conclusion: The QI initiative was successful in reducing BCC rates and in producing continued improvement for nearly four years of follow-up. Further study will determine if these results are generalizable to other settings.