Blood Culture Bottle Shortage Enters Second Month

August 19, 2024

The federal government continues to monitor a critical shortage of Becton Dickinson (BD) BACTEC blood culture media bottles that has affected patient care.

Since early July, public health agencies have recommended facilities preserve the supply for patients at highest risk.

In a statement Friday, CMS and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) acknowledged that efforts to conserve the available supply could affect certain performance measurements and metrics related to CMS Hospital Star Ratings and CMS’ value-based programs (severe sepsis and septic shock measure, and healthcare-associated infection measures).

“We recognize that some providers may be concerned about the sensitivity of outcomes performance measurement based on the potential for fewer blood culture draws, using lower volumes of blood for testing, and other actions necessary for the conservation of supplies,” CMS said in a statement on Friday.

Here’s what you need to know:

• The issue:  In a statement last month, the manufacturer said it was experiencing reduced availability of blood culture vials from its supplier and pledged to take all available measures to address the issue.
• Recommendations:  The FDA has issued recommendations for providers, lab professionals, facilities to conserve and preserve the available blood culture media bottles. The guidance is based on the clinical need to maintain quality and safe patient care.
• Rapid Resolution:  Last week, federal officials said they were working with the manufacturer and other partners to “accelerate rapid resolution of the shortage, including expediting any necessary review (e.g., for shelf-life extension), meeting with alternative suppliers, and communicating best practices and conservation strategies.”
• Quality measures:  CMS officials said they would carefully analyze quality measure data as they become available “to assess for potential reliability or validity issues or other data discrepancies.”
• Quotable:  “We are taking action to mitigate and resolve disruptions as quickly as possible,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.

Last month, the CDC issued a Health Alert Network Health Advisory with additional resources for providers. Additionally, the CDC and the Infectious Diseases Society of America answered questions from the provider community in this webinar from the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

For questions, contact Lauren Geary, BS, RRT-NPS, CIC, project manager, infection prevention.