Approximately 1/3 of all Positive Blood Cultures are FALSE Positive Blood Cultures

Research suggests that approximately 90% of all blood culture tests have negative results.¹ That means that for every 1000 blood draws, about 100 patients receive a positive result. But, well-established false positive blood culture rates ² tell us that ~30 of the patients who test positive do NOT have a bloodstream infection.

False positive blood culture results are common.

Positive blood culture results are WRONG ~1/3 of the time.

The Impact of False Positive Blood Culture Results

Blood culture contamination (BCC) that causes false positive results has consequences:

• Antibiotic misuse has led to life-threatening multi-drug resistant super bugs.
• Contaminated blood cultures put patients at higher risk of in-hospital mortality⁵, contribute to unnecessary antibiotic use and resistance, increase length of stay and associated healthcare-acquired conditions, and create delays in proper treatment.⁶
• The cost of a false-positive blood culture is estimated at $4,000-$10,000^2,5,7,8, negatively impacting hospital financial performance.
• A new CMS law⁹ will penalize hospitals that are not demonstrating facility-wide antibiotic stewardship best practice, including avoiding unnecessary antibiotic use.