An after-hours clinical liaison blood culture service--is it worth it?

The impact of clinical liaison on therapy for positive after-hours blood cultures was evaluated. Of 223 positive blood cultures, no change in management occurred in 164 (73%) cases: 115 positive cultures were regarded as contaminants, and 49 patients were receiving appropriate therapy already. The results of microscopy or culture altered the antimicrobial management of 59 (27%) patients: therapy was altered on the basis of microscopy for 33 patients, and was altered for 26 patients when culture results were available. In total, 94 doses of inappropriate antibiotics were avoided. The main benefit of after-hours blood cultures was that laboratory results were available a day earlier, facilitating timely initiation of appropriate therapy and infection control procedures.