If a pediatric stem cell transplant or cancer patient is discharged with an external central venous line for medication delivery — which must be cleaned and flushed daily by a caregiver or parent to avoid life-threatening infections — and develops a central-line bloodstream infection, the average cost of treatment and a six day hospital stay is upwards of $35,000, according to a recent study published in the journal Pediatric Blood & Cancer.
To determine the economic burden resultant of pediatric ambulatory bloodstream infections, researchers examined patient data from Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center on outpatient bloodstream infections linked to hospitalizations that occurred between Jan. 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2013. Researchers analyzed 74 bloodstream infections in 61 patients.
Analysis revealed that 62 percent of the hospitalizations analyzed were solely attributable to bloodstream infections. The remainder of hospitalizations included patients with at least one medical issue in addition to a bloodstream infection.
The median charge for children treated for a bloodstream infection unaccompanied by another medical condition was $36,000 for a six-day hospital stay. For children hospitalized with an infection and one or more additional medical issues, the cost of care totaled $40,000 for a seven-day hospital admission.
"Behind these metrics are real and serious risks to patients' health," said Chris Wong, MD, the paper's lead author and a pediatric oncologist at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's. "The bottom line is that the dollar cost and lengthy hospital stays signal complications that could become life-threatening or delay treatment of the children's cancer. Reducing these infections is important both for cost containment and quality of care."
Among the 61 patients, four deaths occurred. Three of the four deaths were directly attributable to bloodstream infections.
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