Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T22:33:01.605Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Valuation of Hospital Bed-Days Released by Infection Control Programs: A Comparison of Methods

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2016

Andrew J. Stewardson*
Affiliation:
Infection Control Program, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Stephan Harbarth
Affiliation:
Infection Control Program, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland
Nicholas Graves
Affiliation:
Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
on behalf of the TIMBER Study Group
Affiliation:
Members of the study group are listed at the end of the text
*
Infection Control Program, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, 4 Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland ([email protected]).

Abstract

We performed a contingent valuation survey to elicit the opportunity cost of bed-days consumed by healthcare-associated infections in 11 European hospitals. The opportunity cost of a bed-day was significantly lower than the accounting cost; median values were €72 and €929, respectively (P < .001). Accounting methods overestimate the opportunity cost of bed-days.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2014;35(10):1294–1297

Type
Concise Communication
Copyright
© 2014 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved.

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. Graves, N, Harbarth, S, Beyersmann, J, Barnett, A, Halton, K, Cooper, B. Estimating the cost of health care-associated infections: mind your p’s and q’s. Clin Infect Dis 2010;50:10171021.Google Scholar
2. Beyersmann, J, Wolkewitz, M, Allignol, A, Grambauer, N, Schumacher, M. Application of multistate models in hospital epidemiology: advances and challenges. Biom J 2011;53(2):332350.Google Scholar
3. Finkler, SA. The distinction between cost and charges. Ann Intern Med 1982;96(1):102109.Google Scholar
4. Roberts, RR, Frutos, PW, Ciavarella, GG, et al. Distribution of variable vs fixed costs of hospital care. JAMA 1999;281(7):644649.Google Scholar
5. Graves, N. Economics and preventing hospital-acquired infection. Emerg Infect Dis 2004;10:561566.Google Scholar
6. Breidert, C, Hahsler, M, Reutterer, T. A review of methods for measuring willingness-to-pay. Innov Mark 2006;2:832.Google Scholar
7. Scott, RD, Solomon, SL, McGowan, JE. Applying economic principles to health care. Emerg Infect Dis 2001;7:282285.Google Scholar
8. Page, K, Graves, N, Halton, K, Barnett, AG. Humans, ‘things’ and space: costing hospital infection control interventions. J Hosp Infect 2013;84:200205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9. World Health Organization. Choosing interventions that are cost effective. Country-specific unit costs. http://www.who.int/choice/country/country_specific/en/index.html. Accessed October 9, 2013.Google Scholar
10. Hollander, M, Wolfe, DA. Nonparametric Statistical Methods. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley, 1999.Google Scholar