NH September LAN: Best Practices for Surveillance, Diagnosis and Treatment of C. difficile

CDI is a common cause of healthcare associated (HAI) infection. Accurate diagnosis of CDI links to appropriate use of lab testing thus guiding CDI prevention, management and optimizing resident outcome. Introduction of a diagnostic stewardship as a best practice in antibiotic medication management, aiming to decrease antimicrobial use and C. difficile infection rates begin with effective diagnostic stewardship interventions.

The benefit of an effective diagnostic stewardship program applied to CDI is improved accuracy of CDI diagnosis and appropriate antibiotic use, reduce false positive HAI, and improve the value to residents and quality of care through prevention and appropriateness of treatment.