Kurin specimen diversion technology
October 2018—Kurin announced the results of clinical data from hospitals that use its FDA-cleared blood culture diversion device. In studies conducted at Crouse Hospital, Syracuse, NY, and Bayfront Health, St. Petersburg, Fla., the hospitals saw an overall reduction—56 percent and 54 percent, respectively—in contaminated blood cultures inclusive of all cultures drawn with or without the device. When a Kurin set was used in the blood collection, Crouse saw an 89 percent reduction in contaminated blood cultures and Bayfront a 90 percent reduction in contaminated cultures. In both cases, the hospitals were already below the three percent national contamination rate benchmark when they began using Kurin. Using the company’s passive diversion technology, the hospitals’ overall contamination rates decreased to 0.8 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. The company has also released a five-minute documentary film titled Cry Wolf: The Consequences of Blood Culture Contamination. The film addresses the prevalence of blood culture contamination, the clinical impact on patients, and the steep associated costs for hospitals. Cry Wolf can be viewed at www.betterbloodcultures.com.