Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T02:44:40.143Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Potential Economic Impact of Hospital-Acquired Infections in Uninsured Patients: A Preliminary Investigation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Jess Thompson ,
Julie Jefferson  and
Leonard A. Mermel
Jess Thompson
Affiliation:
Program in Public Health, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
Julie Jefferson
Affiliation:
Department of Community Health, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island Department of Epidemiology and Infection Control, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island
Leonard A. Mermel*
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Providence, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Rhode Island Department of Epidemiology and Infection Control, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island
*
Division of Infectious Diseases, Rhode Island Hospital, 593 Eddy St., Providence, RI 02903 ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We studied uninsured patients admitted to Rhode Island Hospital from January 1 through June 30, 2005, and from January 1 through June 30, 2006. The mean total hospital charge for an uninsured patient with a hospital-acquired infection was $18,487; for those without such an infection, it was $4,951 (P < .001). Multivariable linear regression revealed that a hospital-acquired infection accounted for 11.8 excess hospital days (P = .001). Length of stay was the only independent variable associated with total excess hospital charges.

Type
Concise Communication
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 29 , Issue 8 , August 2008 , pp. 764 - 766
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Roberts, RR, Scott, RD 2nd, Cordell, R, et al.The use of economic modeling to determine the hospital costs associated with nosocomial infections. Clin Infect Dis 2003;36:1424–1432.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Stone, PW, Larson, E, Kawar, LN. A systematic audit of economic evidence linking nosocomial infections and infection control interventions: 1990-2000. Am J Infect Control 2002;30:145–152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Perencevich, EN, Stone, PW, Wright, SB, Carmeli, Y, Fisman, DN, Cosgrove, SE; Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Raising standards while watching the bottom line: making a business case for infection control. Infect Control Hasp Epidemiol 2007;28:1121–1133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Chen, YY, Chou, YC, Chou, P. Impact of nosocomial infection on cost of illness and length of stay in intensive care units. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2005;26:281–287.Google Scholar
5.Cosgrove, SE. The relationship between antimicrobial resistance and patient outcomes: mortality, length of hospital stay, and health care costs. Clin Infect Dis 2006;42 (suppl 2):S82–89.Google Scholar
6.Digiovine, B, Chenoweth, C, Watts, C, et al.The attributable mortality and costs of primary nosocomial bloodstream infections in the intensive care unit. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1999;160:976–981.Google Scholar
7.Horan, TC, Gaynes, RP. Surveillance of nosocomial infections. In: Mayhall, CG, ed. Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control, 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2004.Google Scholar
8.International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision. Clinical Modification. Hart, A, Hopkins, CA, eds. Reston, VA: St. Anthony Publishing and West Valley City, UT: Ingenix; 2000.Google Scholar
9.Dorr, DA, Jones, SS, Burns, L, et al.Use of health-related, quality-of-life metrics to predict mortality and hospitalizations in community-dwelling seniors. J Am Geriatr Soc 2006;54:667–673.Google Scholar
10.Engemann, JJ, Carmeli, Y, Cosgrove, SE, et al.Adverse clinical and economic outcomes attributable to methicillin resistance among patients with Staphylococcus aureus surgical site infection. Clin Infect Dis 2003;36:592–598.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Kaiser Family Foundation. Covering the uninsured: growing need, strained resources. Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. 2007. Available at: http://www.kff.org/uninsured/7429.cfm. Accessed April 24, 2007.Google Scholar
12.Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. National and regional estimates on hospital use for all patients from the HCUP nationwide inpatient sample. Available at: http://hcupnet.ahrq.gov. Accessed April 24, 2007.Google Scholar