Table 1.

Coding criteria for bacterial cholangitis narratives

Category	Coding criteria
Meeting recommendations	Recurrent bacterial cholangitis with 1 episode of sepsis*
	Recurrent bacterial cholangitis with ≥ 1 episode of hepatic abscesses
	Recurrent bacterial cholangitis with ≥ 2 episodes of sepsis*
	Recurrent bacterial cholangitis with ≥2 episodes of bacteremia**
Not meeting recommendations	1 episode bacterial cholangitis
	Recurrent bacterial cholangitis without bacteremia or sepsis***
	Recurrent bacterial cholangitis with 1 episode bacteremia**

^*Sepsis defined as any patient with documented sepsis, defined as use of the term “sepsis,” and/or documentation of severe inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria (fever/hypothermia, tachypnea, tachycardia, or leukopenia/leukocytosis) in the setting of cholangitis, or other septic complications other than hepatic abscesses. This group was categorized as meeting clinical criteria given the difficulty in determining whether patients had only sepsis or septic complications as specified in the consensus recommendations

^**Bacteremia code if the narrative used the term “bacteremia,” or cited positive blood cultures, with or without sepsis