If hospitals with higher infection rates for heart surgery patients reduced rates, they could prevent about 2,600 infections annually and reduce Medicare spending by $441 million, Michigan Medicine researchers found.
The study, published Aug. 6 in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, analyzed Medicare claims for nearly 240,000 cardiac surgery procedures performed across 1,000 hospitals between 2018 and 2023.
Here are five findings.
1. About one in five patients develop an infection following heart surgery, including urinary tract infections, pneumonia and sepsis.
2. Hospitals with the highest infection rates had more than twice as many infections as the best-performing hospitals, even after accounting for patient and procedure differences. More than 25% of postsurgical infections were in patients readmitted to a different hospital than where they underwent surgery.
3. Hospitals with higher infection rates also had higher rates of stroke, readmission and death up to six months post-surgery.
4. Procedures performed at hospitals with higher infection rates had nearly $16,000 more in Medicare spending compared to hospitals with the lowest infection rates.
5. If all hospitals with an average or high infection rate reduced their rate to the best-performing levels, they could prevent about 2,600 infections per year, which would reduce annual Medicare spending by 12% of the proposed National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute 2027 budget, or roughly $441 million.
