SSIs in VA Hospitals Lead to Excess Healthcare Costs

The average cost to care treat a Veterans Affairs hospital patient with a surgical site infection is approximately 66 percent higher than treating a patient who did not experience an SSI, according to a study in JAMA Surgery.

Researchers analyzed data of approximately 54,000 surgical patients from 129 VA hospitals in fiscal year 2010. Of the surgical patients, 3.2 percent experienced an SSI.

On average, the cost to treat a patient with an SSI was $52,620, compared to $31,580 for patients without an SSI.

Researchers noted that the type and severity of the SSI also influenced cost. Deep SSIs were associated with costs 1.93 times higher than patients without SSIs, and superficial SSIs were associated with costs 1.25 times higher.

Researchers concluded that SSIs are linked to significant excess costs. They estimated that if the 10th percentile of VA hospitals reduced their SSI rates to those of hospitals in the 50th percentile, the Veterans Health Administration could save approximately $6.7 million a year.

More Articles on SSIs:

How to Engage Infection Preventionists in the OR
15 Best Practices to Prevent SSIs

3 Tips to Prevent Cardiac SSIs From Cleveland Clinic

 

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