Urinary tract infection (UTI), the most common healthcare-associated infection,¹ leads to more antibiotic prescriptions after doctor visits than any other type of infections.² The gold standard for UTI testing remains urine culture analysis, which is not without its challenges. Urine cultures are associated with lengthy turnaround times—sometimes up to 72 hours—and they are not easily automated, adding to laboratory workload.

In this webinar, Dr. Ranjana Hawaldar will discuss urine culture candidate screening, a solution that is intended to help laboratories screen out samples that will not grow pathogenic bacteria prior to urine culture analysis. With this feature, laboratories can experience short TATs for negative results and support antimicrobial stewardship by helping to reduce the need for non-specific antibiotic treatment.

After watching the presentation, you will be able to:

• Discuss how UTIs impact healthcare settings and laboratory workloads
• Review current alternatives for UTI testing
• Assess the relevant factors associated with urine culture candidate screening
• Propose strategies to introduce a urine culture candidate screening process in the laboratory to avoid unnecessary urine cultures

P.A.C.E. credit is available for your participation.*

Presenter: Ranjana Hawaldar, M.B.B.S., M.D.

Dr. Ranjana Hawaldar, a graduate of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, is a leader in the field of pathology with more than 25 years of experience. Currently, Dr. Hawaldar serves as the head of the pathology department and quality manager at Sampurna Sodani Diagnostic Clinic. Dr. Hawaldar has more than 40 scientific journal publications to her credit and contributes as a reviewer and a member of the editorial board for numerous national and international scientific journals in pathology and microbiology.

Referenced in this webinar
Detecting UTI