Richard W. Vanis, MD

Epidemiological Infection Consulting

The numbers are out from CDC! The cost of healthcare-associated infection in the United States is staggering.

This report uses results from the published medical and economic literature to provide a range of estimates for the annual direct hospital cost of treating healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in the United States. Applying two different Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustments to account for the rate of inflation in hospital resource prices, the overall annual direct medical costs of HAI to U.S. hospitals ranges from $28.4 to $33.8 billion (after adjusting to 2007 dollars using the CPI for all urban consumers) and $35.7 billion to $45 billion (after adjusting to 2007 dollars using the CPI for inpatient hospital services). After adjusting for the range of effectiveness of possible infection control interventions, the benefits of prevention range from a low of $5.7 to $6.8 billion (20 percent of infections are preventable, CPI for all urban consumers) to a high of $25.0 to $31.5 billion (70 percent of infections preventable, CPI for inpatient hospital services).

Take Control of Your Hospital Infections!

You need an epidemiological assessment and development of an infection control plan specific to your hospital and its idiosyncrasies. Traditional methods of preventing SSIs (Surgical Site Infections) and HAIs (Healthcare Associated Infections), including recognition of risk factors, causative microorganisms, key perioperative and admission prevention strategies must be reviewed as well as air flow and laboratory bacterial evaluations. Dr. Vanis is uniquely educated and experienced to address these issues in the hospital environment thru his graduate work in epidemiology and infections and 33 years of surgical onsite experience.

The problems of infection addressing the United States are but a microcosm of the world. The nature of the bacteria we are dealing with at this time has changed. The antibiotics we have used for the last half century are less effective against these bacteria. In addition, because we have had the control over infection we have become sloppy in our approach to controlling the environment in which they thrive. As an example, we wash our clothes in cold water, we rinse them in cold water; we do not use bleach, it's not good for the material. Hot water "kills bugs", the old timers knew this; Clorox kills bugs! This is one small issue that affects the transmission of disease in everyday life.

We were first aware of the MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus) as it moved out of nursing homes with chronically ill old persons as they were admitted to hospitals. Little by little they have found new homes in acute care hospitals and in the general public. Approximately one out of every 22 people who checks into a U.S. hospital acquires a bacterial infection, adding more than 28 Billion Dollars in health care costs, according to a 2009 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) effect 1.7 million hospital patients and kill an estimated 99,000 Americans annually, more deaths than from AIDS, motor vehicle accidents or breast cancer. According to the CDC, an estimated 70 percent of healthcare associated infections are resistant to at least one drug commonly used to treat them. These antibiotic-resistant microbes, or superbugs, causing these infections drive up the cost of health care because the patients often need multiple rounds of treatment, intensive care and have longer stays in the hospital. More importantly, these infections can lead to serious illness or death.