Estimating the impact of a healthcare facility-onset antibiotic-treated Clostridioides difficile infection surveillance definition on the number of cases reportable by US veterans affairs medical centers.

OBJECTIVE: The impact of adopting the proposed National HealthCare Safety Network healthcare facility-onset antibiotic-treated Clostridioides difficile infection (HT-CDI) surveillance definition on the number of CDI cases that would qualify for healthcare-associated infection (HAI) surveillance reporting from US Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities is unknown. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated CDI cases from 25 acute care VA medical centers from July 2022 through June 2024 using the proposed HT-CDI surveillance definition. RESULTS: A total of 789 cases were analyzed. Use of the HT-CDI surveillance definition increased the number of reportable CDI HAIs by 23%. CONCLUSION: In VA, adoption of the proposed HT-CDI surveillance definition increased the number of reportable cases.