Healthcare-Acquired Infections Cost Economy As Much As $147 Billion

Hospital-acquired infections cost the healthcare system between $96 billion and $147 billion annually, according to a new report funded by a Chicago-area company.

The study, which was published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Medical Economics, relied on extended analysis of existing studies.

The report greatly increases estimated HAI-related costs recently released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That report indicated that overall medical costs tied to such infections run between $35 billion and $45 billion.

However, the new study takes into account HAI-related collateral costs, such as lost productivity and wages for patients and their families, as well as out-of-pocket costs for extended hospital stays.

“Before this report, economic research into HAIs mostly focused on hospitals or insurers instead of the patients they served,” said Albert Marchetti, M.D., president and medical director of the Medical Education and Research Alliance, which conducted the study on behalf of Skokie, Ill.-based UMF Corp. “Full societal costs, which are more inclusive than commonly reported direct hospital costs, have never been fully measured or reported. We believe patients rightfully deserve attention, too, because they not only bear out-of-pocket expenses for HAIs but also suffer the unacceptable clinical consequences of heightened morbidity and mortality as well as resultant losses of productivity and wage.”

According to the CDC, HAIs occur at a rate of 4.5 per every 100 hospital admissions. They include such maladies as surgical site infections, urinary tract infections, central line-associate bloodstream infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia.