Effect of Urinalysis with Reflex Testing on Urine Culture Testing and Treatment

Though it is a well-known fact that older patients —particularly women, and particularly in nursing homes—can have bacterial colonization of their uroepithelial tract, an oft-used reflex when a patient has any change in condition—fever, mental status change, and even urinary symptoms—is to get a urinalysis and culture. Both are often ordered simultaneously in order to practice conservatively, but this can lead to issues if a culture comes back with ambiguous results (under 100,000 colony forming units, or a non-standard organism).
Source: Journal of the American Medical Directors Association - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Research Source Type: research