Hospital Infection Experts

Infection in the Hospital Environment

Thousands of patients each year contract serious infections, many times fatal, while they are hospitalized or treated at other health care facilities. Infections, including infections from staph or MRSA, acquired at hospitals are the number four cause of death in the United States, exceeding the combined mortality of breast cancer, AIDS and traffic accidents at an annual cost estimated at $40 billion1.

Somewhere between 5% and 10% of all patients admitted to a hospital will acquire an infection, and this number includes infections resulting from staph or MRSA. Over the past few decades, the microorganisms causing these infections have mutated into antibiotic resistant strains, creating the resulting morbidity/mortality of a healthcare associated infection greater than ever.

Infections, Insurer Change and Lawsuits

Until recently, the medical community accepted as a “rule-of-thumb” that around 5% of patients will acquire an infection.  At the present time, there is a campaign among infection control professionals to reverse these notions and convince medical staff and hospital administrators that achieving an infection rate of “zero” is a worthy and feasible goal.

Meanwhile, the public, state legislatures and public insurers and private insurers are fed up with the infection rate at hospitals. In October of 2008, Medicare/Medicaid approved a policy to no longer reimburse hospitals for certain avoidable errors (including some types of infections) and Medicare/Medicaid is reserving the right to further expand the list. Many private insurers are now following suit. The public is also beginning to question the handling of infections. Because many new lawsuits are being filed in ever increasing numbers, some are calling healthcare associated infections ‘The Next Asbestos’1.

Is this a Crisis?

For a hospital clean and free of microorganisms, a deep cleaning would be required after every discharge. Unfortunately, the hospital cleaning staff is often burdened and under pressure to turn over a room quickly (15 minutes is common) and is often times inadequately monitored for cleaning compliance1. Infections are often the result of "flawed processes" of care and hygiene. And, it is widely known that a major cause of hospital infections, including infections from staph or MRSA, results from poor hand washing by hospital personnel.

In a 2008 article, the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine estimated that:

  • Hospital acquired infections add an average of $15,000 to the cost of care which puts a total cost of infections around $40 billion a year2.
  • This cost is in addition to the suffering caused with more than 2 million infections a year, over 100,000 deaths and millions of extra days spent in the hospital.

Public perception of the infection risk of hospitals has also led patients to flee to smaller, outpatient centers for treatment to avoid hospitals. And more and more lawsuits are being filed on behalf of patients and hospital employees referring to the dangerous environment created.

If you or someone you love contracted a hospital infection that resulted in serious illness, injury or death, you may want to contact us today.

Sources:
1 McCaughey, B. (2008). Unnecessary Deaths: The Human and Financial Costs of Hospital Infections. (p. 70). Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths.

2 Mitka, M. (2008). Public, Private Insurers Refusing to Pay Hospitals for Costs of Avoidable Errors. JAMA, 299(21), 2495-2496. doi: 10.1001/jama.299.21.2495.