Although Pennsylvania's public reporting of hospital performance data shows the number of hospital-acquired infections increasing, this rise may be due to better reporting rather than decreasing quality. Pennsylvania also is reporting commercial payment associated with hospital-acquired infection. The latest data released by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council found that hospitals identified 13,711 hospital-acquired infections during the first nine months of 2005, compared to 11,668 for 12 months of 2004. “The increase can be attributed to the fact that Pennsylvania hospitals are getting better at the reporting process and an expansion in surgical site infection data collection requirements,” says PHC4 executive director Marc P. Volavka. (Click here to dowload the report.)
The hospital-acquired infections that occurred during the first nine months of 2005 were associated with an additional 1,456 deaths, 227,000 extra hospital days, and $2.3 billion in additional hospital charges. The average payment of a hospitalization with a hospital-acquired infection was $60,678 in 2004, whereas the average payment for a hospitalization without such an infection was $8,078. “The actual insurance payments are mammoth,” said Volavka.
