Kelly, Craig introduce “The Diagnostic Accuracy in Sepsis Act'

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Representatives Mike Kelly (R-PA), a member of the Ways & Means Subcommittee on Health, and Angie Craig (D-MN), introduced the "The Diagnostic Accuracy in Sepsis Act." This legislation aims to improve patient safety by reducing blood culture contamination and also aims to avoid administering unnecessary and costly treatment during this process.

"Patient safety should always be the top priority, and this legislation does just that," Rep. Kelly said. "This legislation aims to improve both patient care and patient outcomes while ensuring thousands of Americans who receive this treatment each year can avoid false-positive sepsis test results."

"Contaminated blood culture tests can lead to incorrect diagnoses and costly and unnecessary treatments," said Rep. Craig. "That's why I'm proud to introduce this bipartisan bill with Rep. Kelly to help prevent false-positive sepsis results. Our legislation will keep patients safe while reducing health care costs."

BACKGROUND

Inaccurate sepsis tests due to blood culture contamination cost Medicare hundreds of millions of dollars annually, harm patients by leading to unnecessary treatments, and worsen the antimicrobial resistance crisis. Accuracy is especially important in acute care hospitals when patients present with symptoms of sepsis. Despite multiple federal government-sponsored educational campaigns, the national blood culture contamination rate has remained above 3 percent for decades.

This legislation, which requires CMS to add a blood culture contamination rate measure to the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction (HAC) Program, would eliminate wasteful spending and unnecessary treatments, reduce significant patient harm, and support antimicrobial stewardship.

As a result, the health care system could realize billions of dollars in savings and afford patients the opportunity for quality outcomes.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"Sepsis Alliance applauds Reps. Kelly and Craig for introducing "The Diagnostic Accuracy in Sepsis Act," said Thomas Heymann, Sepsis Alliance President and CEO. "This legislation will help thousands of patients avoid false-positive sepsis test results, and the potential overuse of antimicrobials, due to preventable blood culture contamination. This legislation will incentivize hospitals to take the steps necessary to address this critical patient safety issue."

"We know from the experience of hospitals across the country that best practice techniques together with innovative technology can lead to substantial reduction in the number of contaminated blood culture tests," said Dr. Lucy Tompkins, an expert in the fields of Infectious Diseases, Clinical Microbiology, Epidemiology, and Infection Prevention and Control. "Getting to zero percent contamination is a goal that "The Diagnostic Accuracy in Sepsis Act" will help us achieve, allowing us to avoid administering unnecessary and costly treatment. It is also a critically important step in support of continued antimicrobial stewardship efforts."

Read the full text of the legislation here.