New blood culture instruments are coming online as of Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Clinical diagnostic capability, Epic orders, volume guidelines for blood draw, and reporting and workup of positive cultures will be identical to our previous system. There are several additional workflow changes that impact the blood culture process as follows:

1. Bottles are plastic. You may use the older glass bottles in the short term if they are found in your area, but please call the Hospital Stores to restock with new bottles if these are found (Stores #173590 (aerobic) and Stores #173591 (anaerobic).
2. Continue to use the plastic cones for safety when tubing plastic bottles.
3. A new plastic adapter hub may be required to draw blood into the new bottles; contact Nursing trainers if this procedure is unclear, and order Stores #173743 if needed.
4. When ordering blood cultures, “specimen site” is a necessary field but it no longer has to be entered at order entry. If a particular site of draw is needed (such as a particular lumen or line) it should be specified at order entry. Otherwise, Nursing is required to enter “specimen site” at the time bottles are drawn.

Questions specifically related to this issue can be directed to Bradley Ford, MD, PhD, Medical Director of Clinical Microbiology; (ext. 6-2990, bradley-ford@uiowa.edu; *8290).