Hospital-Acquired Infections: Prevalent and Costly in Pennsylvania
Benefits Management Briefs
August 2007
Page 2

The latest figures from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) paint a disturbing picture of the prevalence, safety, and cost of hospital-acquired infections in Pennsylvania. The PHC4's hospital-specific report on hospital-acquired infections, the first report of its type in the nation, outlines the actual number of infections and other related quality-of-care measures for the state's 168 hospitals.

The report, Hospital-acquired Infections in Pennsylvania, contained these troublesome statistics:

• Pennsylvania hospitals reported 19,154 cases of hospital-acquired infections in 2005. That's a rate of 12.2 per 1,000 cases. The hospitals identified 11,668 cases of hospital- acquired infections in 2004, the first year the state began implementing more stringent reporting requirements.
• The mortality rate for patients who develop hospital-acquired infections was 12.9%, compared with 2.3% for those who did not develop these infections.
• Patient with hospital-acquired infections spent 394,129 days in the hospitals, at a cost of $3.5 billion.
• The average length of stay for patients with hospital-acquired infections was 20.6 days, compared with an average length of stay of 4.5 days for those who did not contract such infections.
• The average hospital charges for patients who developed hospital-acquired infections were $185,260, compared with charges of $31,389 for those without infections.
• The average reimbursement payment from private insurers was $53,915 for patients who had hospital-acquired infections and $8,311 for patients without hospital-acquired infections.

Instead of focusing on hospital-acquired infections and costs in general, the new report highlights data at specific hospitals can use the data to measure their future performance.

When commenting on the report, Marc Volavka, executive director of PHC4, said: "Its time to shine the light on this important and costly issue. It's time that hospitals, patients, and those who pay the bill know how many patients develop hospital-acquired infections, the type of infections they develop, and the quality and cost implications. The more information that becomes available, the better the focus will be on preventing these infections."

Reporting requirements regarding hospital-acquired infections in Pennsylvania were phased in over a two-year period. Starting in 2004, Pennsylvania hospitals were required to submit data to the PHC4 on four types of hospital-acquired infections: surgical site infections for orthopedic, circulatory, and neurological procedure; urinary tract infections associated with catheters; bloodstream infections associated with central lines (special intravenous lines used in deep veins); and ventilator-associated pneumonia. More reporting requirements were added in 2005, and by January 2006 hospitals were required to report nearly all hospitals-acquired infections to PHC4.

According to Volavka, the hospital-acquired specific report demonstrates the state's robust commitment to reducing these serious, costly, and largly preventable infections.

"The belief of 'inevitability' is being replaced with preventive action all across the country," Volavka said. "This will save thousands of Americans from the devastating effects of hospital-acquired infections, and the provider community deserves much credit for this change."