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Rebecca R. Roberts, R. Douglas Scott, Ralph Cordell, Steven L. Solomon, Lynn Steele, Linda M. Kampe, William E. Trick, Robert A. Weinstein, The Use of Economic Modeling to Determine the Hospital Costs Associated with Nosocomial Infections, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 36, Issue 11, 1 June 2003, Pages 1424–1432, https://doi.org/10.1086/375061
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Abstract
Hospital-associated infection is well recognized as a patient safety concern requiring preventive interventions. However, hospitals are closely monitoring expenditures and need accurate estimates of potential cost savings from such prevention programs. We used a retrospective cohort design and economic modeling to determine the excess cost from the hospital perspective for hospital-associated infection in a random sample of adult medical patients. Study patients were classified as being not infected (n = 139), having suspected infection (n = 8), or having confirmed infection (n = 17). Severity of illness and intensive unit care use were both independently associated with increased cost. After controlling for these confounding effects, we found an excess cost of $6767 for suspected infection and $15,275 for confirmed hospital-acquired infection. The economic model explained 56% of the total variability in cost among patients. Hospitals can use these data when evaluating potential cost savings from effective infection-control measures.