Evaluating UTI Diagnosis in Nursing Homes

The objective of this study is to determine if prospective data, collected over 12 months from over 200 nursing homes, will show that the use of Guidance® UTI Clinical Pathway is more effective than the Traditional Clinical Pathways for urine testing in UTI diagnosis in Nursing Homes. Guidance® UTI Clinical Pathway provides standardized infrastructure for specimen collection, and result dissemination via assigned report point person to verify receipt of actionable data. The pathway also includes several in-services on molecular testing for UTI, Pooled Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing, and polymicrobial infections to help providers better understand test methodology. Standardizing a Clinical Care Pathway for testing and reporting of clinical results approach may lead to a reduction in empiric broad spectrum antibiotic use and in turn better health-related outcomes for patients. Such efficiency in clinical decision making at the time of initial presentation may lead to improved patient care by avoiding ineffective therapy due to mismanagement or incomplete lab diagnosis. The study will be observing the implementation of the Guidance® UTI Clinical Pathway and comparing it to traditional clinical care pathways from facility-level data entered into the National Healthcare Safety Network for its LTCF (Long Term Care Facilities) Component.