Effectiveness of practices for improving the diagnostic accuracy of Non ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction in the Emergency Department: A Laboratory Medicine Best Practices™ systematic review.

Objectives: This article is a systematic review of the effectiveness of four practices (assay selection, decision point cardiac troponin (cTn) threshold selection, serial testing, and point of care testing) for improving the diagnostic accuracy Non-ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI) in the Emergency Department.

Design And Methods: The CDC-funded Laboratory Medicine Best Practices (LMBP) Initiative systematic review method for quality improvement practices was used.

Results: The current ACC/AHA guidelines recommend using cardiac troponin assays with a 99th percentile upper reference limit (URL) diagnostic threshold to diagnose NSTEMI.

Effectiveness of practices to reduce blood culture contamination: a Laboratory Medicine Best Practices systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: This article is a systematic review of the effectiveness of three practices for reducing blood culture contamination rates: venipuncture, phlebotomy teams, and prepackaged preparation/collection (prep) kits.

Design And Methods: The CDC-funded Laboratory Medicine Best Practices Initiative systematic review methods for quality improvement practices were used.

Results: Studies included as evidence were: 9 venipuncture (vs.