Impact of mandatory nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) testing approval on hospital-onset infection (HO-CDI) rates: A diagnostic stewardship intervention.

Misclassification of colonization as hospital-onset infection (HO-CDI) can lead to unnecessary treatment of patients and substantial financial penalties for hospitals. We successfully implemented mandatory PCR testing approval as a strategy to optimize testing, which was associated with a significant decline in the monthly incidence of HO-CDI rates and lowering of our standardized infection ratio to 0.77 (from 1.