BACKGROUND: In June 2016, New Mexico added carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) to the list of notifiable conditions. At that time, very little systematic information was available about New Mexico’s laboratories’ capacity and practice for CRE-related testing and Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR) to the state. A survey to determine current practice and capacity was proposed to identify capacity for CRE testing and reporting in New Mexico.
METHODS: The NMDOH Healthcare-Associated Infections Team and the ELR Coordinator identified the goals and objectives of the survey. Questions from surveys addressing similar topics were reviewed and additional questions were developed for those topics not covered by existing surveys. The survey was reviewed and revised by laboratorians at the Scientific Laboratory Division (SLD), New Mexico’s public health laboratory and an Infection Preventionist at one local hospital. An Infection Preventionist and a laboratory manager then piloted the survey and provided feedback before the survey was fielded.
RESULTS: Results on the following topics will be presented: response rate, knowledge of the change in reporting requirements, electronic systems used for laboratory and hospital information systems, current practice and capacity for CRE detection, capacity to send CRE test results to NMDOH via Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR) and other methods.
CONCLUSIONS: Action items required to implement and improve CRE reporting by ELR the survey will be presented.