OBJECTIVE  To evaluate the influence of raising the pathogen testing rate and optimizing the process of blood culture test on the outcomes and economics of inpatients with bloodstream infections.

METHODS  The research subjects were inpatients with positive blood culture from 2022 to 2023 in the Affiliated Changsha Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, which were divided into the experimental and control groups based on whether interventions were adapted or not. The differences in baseline, length for submission and detection of microorganisms, length of stay and treatment, cost and outcomes, antibiotics adjustment and detection rates of multi-drug-resistant bacteria were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS  There were no statistical differences in age, gender, source of infection, infection related indicators before admission, length of antibiotic usage, cost for laboratory diagnosis, the proportion of antibiotics adjustment within 48 hours of physician receiving blood culture report and cure rate. Compared with the control group, the experimental group had high submission rates of pathogenic testing (65.12% vs. 81.63%), directional indicator testing (53.64% vs. 72.70%), and "double tubes and double sets" testing (27.59% vs. 55.71%) (P < 0.05), short time intervals for doctor′s advice after admission and positive blood culture report (P < 0.05, respectively), short length of hospital stay (P < 0.05), low total hospital and antibiotic expenses (P < 0.05), high improvement rate and low poor prognosis rate (P < 0.05) and low detection rate of multi-drug-resistant bacteria (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS  Raising pathogen testing rate and optimizing the process of blood culture submission can improve the prognosis of patients with bloodstream infections, shorten positive blood culture report time and total length of hospital stay, save hospital and antibiotics expenses, and reduce the occurrence of multi-drug-resistant bacteria. Moreover, they are significant for antimicrobial stewardship, precise treatment and hospital infection prevention and control in medical institutions.