Financial consequences of hospital-acquired bacteraemia in three Belgian hospitals in 2003 and 2004

The financial and human costs of hospital-acquired infections are increasingly recognised in many healthcare systems. This study seeks to quantify excess expenditures on hospital-acquired bacteraemia (HAB) in three Belgian general hospitals in 2003 and 2004. Patients with HAB were compared with patients in the same All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Groups (APR-DRGs) without HAB. Patient level costs were estimated using a hospital costing system developed by the 'Université Libre de Bruxelles', and compared with DRG-based funding for the three hospitals. HAB incidence was consistent with the national rate for two of the three hospitals, but considerably higher for the third. Both severity of illness and mortality were higher in the HAB group. Nosocomial bacteraemia was associated with an increased length of stay of 30 days and of 6.1 days in intensive care units. When compared with uninfected patients in the same DRG, treatment of HAB patients cost an additional euro 16,709. At current funding rates, hospitals made a mean profit of euro 446 for uninfected patients, but a mean loss of euro 2,431 for patients with HAB. Our findings suggest that hospitals have a financial interest in reducing the rate of HAB, even in a system which funds such complications through severity adjustments in the APR-DRG system. Growing international interest in pay for performance and other funding schemes will only strengthen these financial incentives.     

Mortality rate, length of stay and extra cost of sternal surgical site infections following coronary artery bypass grafting in a private medical centre in Turkey

Florence Nightingale Hospital is a 300-bed, university-affiliated, private medical centre with a large open heart surgery programme in Istanbul, Turkey. In this study, the mortality rates, lengths of stay (LOS) and extra costs of patients with deep sternal surgical site infections (DSSSIs) and superficial sternal surgical site infections (SSSSIs) following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) were determined from January 1999 to December 2002. Group I included 52 patients with DSSSIs, Group II included 36 patients with SSSSIs and Group III included 88 controls. The controls were selected at random from patients operated within the same year, with the same sex and age within five years, but who had not developed infection. Mortality rates in Groups I, II and III were 19.2%, 0% and 4.5%, respectively; the mortality rate in Group I was significantly different from that in Groups II and III (P<0.005). LOS was 47, 33 and 12 days for Groups I, II and III, respectively, and LOS was statistically different for each group (P<0.005). The costs of extra LOS, antibiotics, and radiological, microbiologial and other laboratory examinations for Groups I and II were US$6850.93 and US$3740.58, respectively. Both DSSSI and SSSSI following CABG extended the LOS and increased the cost, and DSSSI was significantly associated with a high mortality rate. These results suggest the need for improved infection control measures to reduce SSSIs following CABG. As an important component of the extra cost is the extra LOS, it is essential to shorten this period. This may be particularly applicable in patients with SSSSIs.     

Beyond DRG: The effect of socio-economic indicators on inpatient resource allocation in Australia

Financing in Australia's public hospital works through the Australian Refined Diagnosis Related Groups (AR-DRGs) with separations to specific DRG groups based on medical diagnosis or surgical procedure, patient's age, mode of separation, clinical complexity and complications. This paper aims at assessing how the AR-DRGs reflect the efficiency and equity of the hospitals resource allocation. Using administrative data of all acute public hospital admissions and length of stay (LOS) as a proxy for hospital costs, this paper showed that patients’ socio-economic (SES) characteristics are a strong determinant of health care utilization. Our results revealed that the lower the SES, the longer the LOS and hence more utilization of the inpatient resources. Therefore, omitting SES from the risk adjusters list and solely focusing on DRG- based compensation penalizes hospitals catering to lower SES populations. Our findings further support the idea of smaller/remote hospitals based on block funding.     

Preparing for the G-DRG system: portfolio analysis of the hospitals in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Diagnosis-Related Groups are scheduled for step-by-step introduction into the German hospital system. Initially DRG base rates will be specific to each hospital (i. e. in keeping with the present budget), but eventually (by 2007) a common base rate will be reached in each federal state. This development may have grave financial consequences for some hospitals where initial base rates are above average and hence likely to be reduced. Therefore, we grouped the remunerations paid by the AOK Saxony-Anhalt (i. e. the largest statutory health insurance company in this federal state) for a total of 308,495 hospital cases in fiscal year 2000 according to hospital and diagnoses, expressed them as a percentage difference from the average remuneration, and analysed them jointly with the average length of stay (LOS). We found considerable differences between hospitals in terms of the payments per case and the LOS, independent of the stratification of the cases. For example, Magdeburg University Clinical Centre registered hospitalisations that were short (below average) but expensive (well above average), hence there is less scope for further rationalization of the LOS in this hospital compared to others. Considerable adjustments will become necessary in due course when switching over from hospital-specific base rates to a common regional base rate.     

Resource utilization of gastric cancer patients aggregated item-by-item and comparison of the medical costs with the reimbursement level and length of hospital stay

OBJECTIVE: Using the new hospital cost accounting method per case based on cost per service, we compared the medical costs with the reimbursement level and length of hospital stay for gastric cancer patients. METHOD: The subjects were 158 gastric cancer patients who were admitted for surgery in a public hospital in Tokyo between 1995 and 1997. The new cost accounting method that we developed according to the activity-based costing method was applied in the following four levels; major items of expenditure for the hospital; costs incurred in each department; costs per medical service units; and costs of all the services per case. RESULTS: 1) 158 patients were studied. All the cost figures are adjusted to those in the 1998 fiscal year. The mean length of stay (LOS) of the 158 cases were 52 +/- 16 days. The average charge was 1,835,000 yen, and the average costs was 2,034,000 yen. 2) The per capita ratio of charge to cost (RCC) was 0.90. RCC for medications, procedure treatments, laboratory tests, and medical management/accommodation were 1.04, 1.44, 1.35, and 0.31, respectively. 3) The peason's correlation coefficient between the total costs and LOS was 0.80 (P < 0.001). A high correlation was noted for costs for medical management/accommodation and nursing with LOS (r = 0.98, P < 0.001; r = 0.97, P < 0.001; respectively), while that for cost for operations was low (r = 0.03, P > 0.05). The partial correlation coefficient between the total costs and the total charges with the LOS adjustment was 0.58 (P < 0.001). The coefficient for costs and charges for medications and procedure were high (r = 0.99, P < 0.001; r = 1.00, P < 0.001), while that for medical management/accommodation was low (r = 0.16, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: LOS reflected the cost for room and nursing, but not the resource consumption for medical treatment per case. While the present fee schedules overestimate the costs of medication and laboratory tests, they underestimate those for medical management/accommodation. LOS and charges did not correctly reflect the medical costs per case.     

Epidemiology and Healthcare Resource Utilization Associated With Children With Short Bowel Syndrome in the United States

Background: There is a lack of large database research relating to the epidemiology and health resource utilization associated with short bowel syndrome (SBS) in the United States. Methods: We analyzed the Kids’ Inpatient Database for the year 2012 and utilized International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, and Clinical Modification (ICD‐9‐CM) diagnosis codes to identify patients 0–3 years of age with SBS, who were matched by age and sex to children without SBS. The study variables included patient and hospital demographics, All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Groups, in‐hospital mortality, hospital length of stay, and hospitalization costs. We also determined the most frequent ICD‐9‐CM diagnostic and procedural codes associated with SBS. Results: Children with SBS demonstrated a higher rate of mortality than that of children without SBS (1.6% vs 0.7%; P < .001). Children with SBS also experienced a longer length of stay (median days [interquartile range]: 8 [15] vs 2 [3]; P < .001) and higher hospital costs ($17,000 [$34,000] vs $3000 [$5000]; P < .001). The most frequent medical diagnoses associated with SBS were infection (62%), anemia (29%), and liver disease (17%). Children with SBS also demonstrated more severe illness as assessed by an All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Group score of 3 or 4 (94.30% vs 16.20%; P < .001). Conclusions: Children hospitalized with SBS have a high severity of illness and experience complicated inpatient courses related to their disease. Our study represents the first use of national U.S. data to study the epidemiology and health resource utilization associated with SBS.     

Comparing diagnosis-related group systems to identify design improvements

The objective of this research was to compare the casemix systems used in the United Kingdom (UK), Australia and the United States of America (USA) to identify possible improvements in the design of the UK Healthcare Resource Groups. The data consisted of over 12 million inpatient and day case discharge records from 574 National Health Service acute hospitals in England for 2001-2002. These data were grouped into four casemix systems, namely Versions 3.1 and 3.5 of Healthcare Resource Groups, the United States-based All Patient Diagnosis Related Groups, and the Australian Refined Diagnosis Related Groups. The statistical performance of the groups was measured using the reduction in variance (RIV) statistic. The Australian Refined Diagnosis Related Groups produced the best RIV overall but this grouper had the advantage of more groups than the others. The comparison of the performance of the chapters within each grouper showed that each had some chapters with a better RIV than the other groupers. Comparing the performance of these groupers was successful in identifying changes to the Healthcare Resource Groups that improved its performance. Further revision of the Healthcare Resource Groups should be focused on the chapters with the best potential for improved performance.     

Case-mix adjustment using objective measures of severity: the case for laboratory data.

OBJECTIVE. We evaluate the use of routinely gathered laboratory data to subclassify surgical and nonsurgical major diagnostic categories into groups homogeneous with respect to length of stay (LOS). DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING. The source of data is the Combined Patient Experience database (COPE), created by merging data from computerized sources at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center and Stanford University Medical Center for a total sample size of 73,117 patient admissions. STUDY DESIGN. The study is cross-sectional and retrospective. All data were extracted from COPE consecutive admissions; the unit of analysis is an admission. The outcome variable LOS proxies hospital resource utilization for an inpatient stay. Nine (candidate) predictor variables were derived from seven lab tests (WBC, Na, K, C02, BUN, ALB, HCT) by recording the whole-stay minimum or maximum test result. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS. Patient groups were formed by first assigning to major diagnostic categories (MDCs) all 73,117 admissions. Each MDC was then partitioned into medical and surgical subgroups (sub-MDCs). The 13 sub-MDCs selected for study define a study population of 32,599 patients that represents approximately 45 percent of inpatients. Within each of the 13 sub-MDCs, patients were randomly assigned to one of two data sets in a ratio of 2:1. The first set was used to create, the second to validate, three different LOS predictors. Predictive accuracies of individual DRG classes were compared with those of two alternative classification schemes, one formed by recursive partitioning (the sub-MDC) using only lab test results, the other by partitioning with both lab test results and individual DRGs. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS. For the eight largest sub-MDCs (81 percent of study population), individual DRGs explained 23 percent of the within sub-MDC variance in LOS, laboratory data classes explained 31 percent, and classes derived by considering individual DRGs and laboratory data explained 37 percent. (Each result is a weighted average R2. The average number of LOS classes into which the eight largest sub-MDCs were partitioned were 20, 10, and 10, respectively. Within six of the eight, partitioning on the basis of laboratory data alone explained more within sub-MDC variance than did partitioning into individual DRGs. CONCLUSIONS. Routine lab test data improve the accuracy of LOS prediction over that possible using DRG classes. We note that the improvements do not result from overfitting the data, since the numbers of LOS classes we use to predict LOS are considerably fewer than the numbers of individual DRGs.     

Costs and savings associated with infection control measures that reduced transmission of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in an endemic setting.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the costs and savings of a 15-component infection control program that reduced transmission of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in an endemic setting. DESIGN: Evaluation of costs and savings, using historical control data. SETTING: Adult oncology unit of a 650-bed hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and solid tumors, excluding bone marrow transplant recipients. METHODS: Costs and savings with estimated ranges were calculated. Excess length of stay (LOS) associated with VRE bloodstream infection (BSI) was determined by matching VRE BSI patients with VRE-negative patients by oncology diagnosis. Differences in LOS between the matched groups were evaluated using a mixed-effect analysis of variance linear-regression model. RESULTS: The cost of enhanced infection control strategies for 1 year was $116,515. VRE BSI was associated with an increased LOS of 13.7 days. The savings associated with fewer VRE BSI ($123,081), fewer patients with VRE colonization ($2,755), and reductions in antimicrobial use ($179,997) totaled $305,833. Estimated ranges of costs and savings for enhanced infection control strategies were $97,939 to $148,883 for costs and $271,531 to $421,461 for savings. CONCLUSION: The net savings due to enhanced infection control strategies for 1 year was $189,318. Estimates suggest that these strategies would be cost-beneficial for hospital units where the number of patients with VRE BSI is at least six to nine patients per year or if the savings from fewer VRE BSI patients in combination with decreased antimicrobial use equalled $100,000 to $150,000 per year.     

Using multilevel models for assessing the variability of multinational resource use and cost data

Multinational economic evaluations often calculate a single measure of cost-effectiveness using cost data pooled across several countries. To assess the validity of pooling international cost data the reasons for cost variation across countries need to be assessed. Previously, ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression models have been used to identify factors associated with variability in resource use and total costs. However, multilevel models (MLMs), which accommodate the hierarchical structure of the data, may be more appropriate. This paper compares these different techniques using a multinational dataset comprising case-mix, resource use and cost data on 1300 stroke admissions from 13 centres in 11 European countries. OLS and MLMs were used to estimate the effect of patient and centre-level covariates on the total length of hospital stay (LOS) and total cost. MLMs with normal and gamma distributions for the data within centres were compared. The results from the OLS model showed that both patient and centre-level covariates were associated with LOS and total cost. The estimates from the MLMs showed that none of the centre-level characteristics were associated with LOS, and the level of spending on health was the centre-level variable most highly associated with total cost. We conclude that using OLS models for assessing international variation can lead to incorrect inferences, and that MLMs are more appropriate for assessing why resource use and costs vary across centres.     

PMH15 Development of a Self-Administered Outcome Measure for use in an Outpatient Population of Individuals with Schizophrenia

Insurers' influence on patterns of care and disease management continues to be questioned in the U.S.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect managed care has on length of stay (LOS) and costs of inpatient management of schizophrenia in acute general hospitals.
METHODS: LOS and cost estimates were developed based on patient-level data from the 1996 Massachusetts discharge database. Analyses were limited to patients with a principal diagnosis of schizophrenia (based on ICD9 codes). Three populations were examined: an all payer group, a standard Medicaid coverage group, and those with a Medicaid-funded managed care plan (MMC). Unique patient identifiers enabled examination of annual admission frequency. All costs are reported in 1996 US$, adjusted appropriately for cost-to-charge ratios.
RESULTS: Of the 3,500 patients admitted for schizophrenia, 582 (17%) were covered by Medicaid and 419 (12%) by MMC. Overall, patients were admitted an average of 1.7 times in the year, with 67% having only one admission. The mean admission rate was 1.8 among Medicaid patients and 1.6 with MMC; a single admission occurred in 73% of the Medicaid group and 67% for MMC. The mean LOS was 14 days for the Medicaid group compared to 13.5 days for the all payer group and 12.3 days for those with MMC. Among those with only one admission, the differences increases: 16.4 days for the Medicaid group, 14.7 days for the all payer group, and 12.9 for the MMC group. Costs for this admission were correspondingly highest for standard Medicaid ($10,864) and lowest for MMC ($7,911).
CONCLUSION: The managed care approach decreases the length of stay and cost of inpatient management of schizophrenia. The appropriateness of these reductions remains unclear.     

不同病原体术后院感的直接经济损失分析

目的 分析不同病原体的医院感染对术后患者住院费用、住院天数的影响,为优化院感防控措施提供依据。方法回顾性收集2019年住院手术患者35 223例,分为术后院感组和无院感组。采用1∶10病例对照比进行倾向性评分匹配,联合广义线性回归模型估计额外住院费用均值（即边际费用）,分析因不同病原体术后院感的直接经济损失差异。结果术后院感组336例与无院感组3 295例匹配成功。倾向性评分匹配示,术后院感组较无院感组住院费用中位数增加43 455.77元、住院天数中位数延长13 d（均P<0.001）;用广义线性回归模型进一步分析归因于不同病原体感染的直接经济损失差异发现,铜绿假单胞菌术后感染导致的住院费用增加倍数最高,其额外住院费用均值为162 631.55 (95%CI:80 431.95～244 831.15)元,是无院感组的4.80 (95%CI:3.28～7.37)倍;住院天数增加倍数排第3,是无院感组的2.69(95%CI:2.19～3.35)倍。结论 不同病原体导致的术后医院感染中,铜绿假单胞菌对患者直接经济损失影响最为显著,建议明确铜绿假单胞菌感染控制的优先干预环节,采取相应防...     

The role of an acute care for the elderly unit in achieving hospital quality indicators while caring for frail hospitalized elders

Acute Care for the Elderly (ACE) units have successfully decreased length of stay, hospital costs, and readmission rates. Furthermore, patients return home with increased functional capacity and improved satisfaction with their hospital stay. The ACE unit concept was geared toward patients returning to independent living, but the average hospitalized geriatric patient is increasingly more frail, vulnerable, and dependent. The purpose of this study is 2-fold: (1) to determine if the ACE unit continues to offer the same benefit to the frail, often bedbound elderly, and (2) to determine if such a unit is able to maintain standard hospital quality indicators. A total of 1096 cases discharged from the Memorial-Hermann ACE unit between July 2008 and June 2010 were compared to a sample of 383 patients with similar illness severity who were discharged between July 2007 and June 2008. Metrics measured include: average length of stay (ALOS), case mix index (CMI), case mix adjusted average length of stay (CMI adj ALOS), average direct costs per case, and readmission rate. Patient satisfaction was measured using Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems and Press-Ganey surveys; quality and safety data were provided by Memorial-Hermann's Quality and Safety Department. The ACE unit resulted in a statistically significant decrease in ALOS and CMI adj LOS with a simultaneous increase in Health Care Financing Administration CMI, indicating that the unit was serving a sicker, more frail population. The readmission rate was 11.95%. The decrease in length of stay, readmission rate, and direct cost translates into a decrease in cost per case. Furthermore, the ACE unit successfully met hospital quality indicators.     

DRG-Based Cost Minimization Models: Applications in a Hospital Environment

The primary objective of this article is to investigate the feasibility of the application of cost minimization analysis in a teaching hospital environment. The investigation is concerned with the development of cost per admission and cost per patient day models. These models are further used for determining the value of the length of stay that would minimize cost per patient day (projected length of stay) and for estimating the costs. This study is based on total of 94,500 observations (1999 and 2000), obtained from a teaching hospital in South Florida. The top ten Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) with the highest volume are selected and classified into four insurance categories: Medicaid, Medicare, commercial, and self-pay. The cost models are fitted to the data for an average R2 value of 79%, and a MAPE value of 15%. The result demonstrates that if a hospital can control the length of stay at the projected level, on average, the cost per admission and the cost per patient day will decrease. Based on 6,367 admissions for the selected DRGs in 2000, the total cost per year and the cost per patient day decreased by approximately 11.58 and 10.35%, respectively. Overall, these results confirm that the concept of cost minimization analysis in economic theory can be applied to healthcare industries for the purpose of reducing of costs. In addition, this research offers a decision support instrument for healthcare administrators.     

A Comprehensive Analysis of the Costs of Severe Maternal Morbidity

IntroductionThe objectives of this study were to include readmissions and physician costs in the estimates of total costs of severe maternal morbidity (SMM), to consider the effect of SMM on maternal length of stay (LOS), and to examine these for the more restricted definition of SMM that excludes transfusion-only cases.MethodsCalifornia linked birth certificate-patient discharge data for 2009 through 2011 (n = 1,262,862) with complete costs and LOS were used in a secondary data analysis. Cost-to-charge ratios were used to estimate costs from charges, adjusting for inflation. Physician payments were estimated from the mean payments for specific diagnosis-related groups. Generalized linear models estimated the association between SMM and costs and LOS.ResultsExcluding readmissions and physician costs, SMM was associated with a 60% increase in hospital costs (marginal effect [ME] $3,550) and a 33% increase in LOS (ME 0.9 days). These increased to 70% (ME $5,806) and 46% (ME 1.3 days) when physician costs and readmissions were included. The effects of SMM were roughly one-half as large for patients who only required a blood transfusion (49% [ME $4,056] and 31% [ME 0.9 days]) as for patients who had another indicator for SMM (93% [ME $7,664] and 62% [ME 1.7 days]).ConclusionsPostpartum hospital readmissions and physician costs are important and previously unreported contributors to the costs of SMM. Excess costs and LOS associated with SMM vary considerably by indication. Cost effects were larger than the LOS effects, indicating that SMM increases treatment intensity beyond increasing LOS, and decreasing SMM may have broader health and cost benefits than previously understood.     

Relationship of volume of lesion to length of hospital stay and outcome at one year in stroke patients

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the volume of lesion (VOL) in patients with stroke and the associated length of hospital stay (LOS), as well as longer-term functional outcome. Computerised tomography (CT) scans were used to measure the volume, region and type of lesion, volume being measured by planimetry. LOS and other patient details were obtained from the Dundee Stroke Database. The total LOS was associated with the VOL on univariate analysis (p = 0.004) and after adjustment for the other variables (p = 0.006) due to a larger lesion being associated with longer stay in hospital. Patient follow-up confirmed that the VOL was also highly significant when related to functional outcome measures of impairment, disability and handicap at one year, as determined by Orgogozo (p = 0.03), Barthel (p < 0.01) and Rankin scores (p < 0.01) respectively. The VOL is related to the length of stay in hospital and outcome at one year. This is of particular interest with the increasing use of thrombolysis and development of neuroprotectant agents designed to limit VOL.     

The emerging infectious challenge of clostridium difficile-associated disease in Massachusetts hospitals: clinical and economic consequences.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the clinical and economic burden of Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD) in Massachusetts over 2 years. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of Massachusetts hospital discharge data from 1999-2003 was conducted. Cases of CDAD in 2000 were identified using code 008.45 from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification; patients were excluded if they had a hospitalization in the prior year during which a diagnosis of CDAD was recorded. Hospitalizations for CDAD during 2001 and 2002 were examined. For primary case patients (ie, those for which CDAD was the principal diagnosis), all inpatient costs were deemed to be related, whereas for secondary case patients, all-patient refined diagnosis-related group assignment, case severity level, and length of stay (LOS) were used to calculate incremental costs attributable to CDAD. Costs were adjusted to the national level and reported in 2005 US dollars. RESULTS: The CDAD cohort consisted of 3,692 patients; 59% were women, and the mean age was 70 years. This group represented 1% of all patients hospitalized in Massachusetts in 2000 (96% of hospitals treated at least 1 case; range, 1-257 cases). Of patients who received a first hospital diagnosis of CDAD in 2000, a total of 28% were primary case patients; their mean LOS was 6.4 days, and the mean cost per stay was $10,212. For secondary case patients, the mean CDAD-related incremental LOS was 2.95 days, and the mean incremental cost per stay was $13,675 per patient. Of patients with CDAD who survived their index stay in 2000, a total of 455 (14%) had at least 1 readmission for CDAD within the subsequent 2 years (mean number of readmissions, 1.4 per patient; range, 1-7 readmissions), with a mean time to first readmission of 3 months. Over 2 years, a total of 55,380 inpatient-days and $51.2 million were consumed by CDAD management. CONCLUSION: CDAD is widespread in Massachusetts hospitals. Rehospitalization with CDAD, if it occurs, generally happens within a few months and happens multiple times for some patients. Based on this study's findings, a conservative estimate of the annual US cost for CDAD management is $3.2 billion dollars.     

The impact of research on hospital costs of care: an empirical study

The goal of this study was to examine the impact of research activities on hospital costs and lengths of stay in French public hospitals. Our data consist of a random sample of 30 000 inpatient stays in 38 hospitals that were extracted from the French Hospital Cost Survey database. Hospital characteristics were added using data from a French national survey and performing a bibliometric study. This is a retrospective study of hospitalizations. We used multilevel modelling. We considered separate models to explain the cost per day and the length of hospital stay (LOS). Research output was defined based on the quartiles of the distribution of the number of impact‐weighted scientific publications produced in our sample of hospitals over a 6‐year period. Research production was associated with a higher cost of care. The cost per day was 19% higher in hospitals in the 3rd quartile and 42% higher in hospitals in the 4th quartile compared to that in hospitals that were not involved in research activities. This result was sensitive to the type of care under consideration. The effect was stronger in oncology but not significant in routine care. Scientific production did not impact the LOS. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hospital-acquired, laboratory-confirmed bloodstream infection: increased hospital stay and direct costs.

OBJECTIVES: To determine increased hospital stay and direct costs attributable to hospital-acquired, laboratory-confirmed bloodstream infection (BSI), and to evaluate the matching variable length of stay (LOS). DESIGN: Retrospective (historical) cohort study with 1:2 matching in intensive care units and surgical wards. SETTING: A 2,000-bed university hospital in Rome, Italy. PATIENTS: All patients admitted between January 1994 and June 1995 who had hospital-acquired, laboratory-confirmed BSI were considered cases; all others were eligible as controls. METHODS: Two controls (A and B) were selected per case in a stepwise fashion. Controls in group A were selected according to the following six criteria: ward, gender, age, diagnosis, central venous catheter, and LOS equal to the interval from admission to infection in a matched case +/- 20% (LOS +/- 20%). Controls in group B were selected according to the first five criteria, but excluded LOS +/- 20%. RESULTS: One hundred five of 108 patients were each matched with two controls. The matching appropriateness score was greater than 90%. With the use of controls in groups A and B, the case-fatality rates attributable to hospital-acquired, laboratory-confirmed BSI were 35.2% and 40.9%, respectively; the estimated risk ratios for death were 2.60 and 3.52 (P = .0001), respectively. The increased hospital stay per case attributable to hospital-acquired, laboratory-confirmed BSI was 19.1 (mean) and 13.0 (median) days for matched pairs in control group A and 19.9 (mean) and 15.0 (median) days for matched pairs in control group B. With controls in group A, the cost of increased hospital stay per patient attributable to hospital-acquired, laboratory-confirmed BSI was Euro 15,413. The additional cost per patient due to treatment was Euro 943, making the overall direct cost Euro 16,356 per case. CONCLUSIONS: This study should make it possible to estimate the cost of hospital-acquired, laboratory-confirmed BSI in most hospitals after adjusting for incidence rate. It also confirmed the use of LOS +/- 20% as a matching variable to limit overestimation of increased hospital stay. To our knowledge, this is among the first such studies in Europe.