Estimating the hospital costs of inpatient harms

Abstract

Objective To estimate the additional hospital costs associated with inpatient medical harms occurring during an index inpatient admission and costs from subsequent readmissions within 90 days. Data Source 2009 to 2011 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's State Inpatient Databases from 12 states. Study Design We compare hospital costs incurred by patients experiencing a specific harm during their hospital stay to the costs incurred by similar patients who did not experience that harm. Data Extraction We extracted records for adult patients admitted for a reason other than rehabilitation or mental health, were at risk of a harm, and were admitted for less than a year. Principal Findings The costliest inpatient harms, such as surgical site infections and severe pressure ulcers, are associated with approximately $30 000 in additional index stay costs per harm. Less costly harms, such as catheter‐ or hospital‐associated urinary tract infections and venous thromboembolism, can add $6000 to $13 000. Birth and obstetric traumas add as little as $100. Conclusions Our analysis represents rigorous estimates of the hospital costs of a variety of inpatient harms; these should be of interest to health care administrators and policy makers to identify areas for cost savings to the health care system.

Early Recognition, Prevention, and Management of Delirium in the Acute Care Setting

“…Similarly, patients with delirium are at a high risk for iatrogenic conditions such as catheter-associated infections or falls, which can add an additional $8000 to hospitalization costs. 16 This project also captured demographics, such as age and gender, in patients who had a positive 4AT score or diagnosed with delirium. The mean age of patients with a positive 4AT score (76.57 years) was essentially the same compared with those with a negative 4AT score (76.93 years).…”

“…Of the 43 patients diagnosed with delirium during our 3-month data collection period, 14 were discharged to an outside facility who had originally lived at home. Similarly, patients with delirium are at a high risk for iatrogenic conditions such as catheter-associated infections or falls, which can add an additional $8000 to hospitalization costs 16 …”

An Observational Study to Evaluate Infection Risk in Two Staff Warming Devices and a Review of Current Literature into Thermal Comfort in the Operating Room and Beyond

“…A 2019 retrospective index analysis of hospital costs from inpatients harms estimated that SSIs cost an average of $32,000 per incidence. 18 When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) stopped paying for care related to preventable hospital-acquired conditions in 2008, these costs transferred from insurers to the hospitals, adding an average of $21 million dollars in costs over a three-year period to a single center.…”

Inpatient Costs in the Perspective of Polish Health Policy: Scenario Analysis

“…From the micro perspective an interesting study was conducted by Freedman et al (2006) who presented in their study some national estimates of the proportions of hospital inpatient cases and cost for adult, nonmaternal patients who have multiple chronic conditions. Anand, Kranker and Chen estimated the additional hospital costs associated with inpatient medical harms occurring during an index inpatient admission and costs from subsequent readmissions within 90 days (Anand, Kranker and Chen 2019). Spector et al estimated the hospital marginal cost of a hospital-acquired pressure ulcers for patients who were hospitalised for major surgeries with adjustments to patient characteristics, comorbidities, procedures, and hospital characteristics (Spector et al 2016).…”