QI program reduced use of indwelling urinary catheters in MICU by more than 77 percent

Many hospitalized patients have an indwelling urinary catheter (IUC), and previous studies have found up to one-third of IUCs are unneeded. A team of researchers from Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, implemented an intervention that decreased the use of IUCs in patients from 92.3 percent to just 15 percent, representing a 77.3 percent reduction in use.

Researchers implemented a three-step intervention to decrease urinary catheterization rates including an intense education program for the entire healthcare team, a prescribed listing of allowed indications for use, followed by additional step-downs in indication and sonographic bladder scanning to detect urinary retention.

"An intensive educational program with daily focus on appropriateness of IUC use can dramatically reduce use of ICUs in a MICU setting and can reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections," said Drs. Pavan Irukulla and Yizhak Kupfer, Maimonides Medical Center lead researchers.