Dive Brief:
- About $28 billion in healthcare costs were saved from 2010 to 2015 as a result of prevention more than 3 million hospital-acquired conditions, HHS announced on Monday.
- About 125,000 fewer patients died related to such conditions, in part due to provisions of the ACA, HHS added.
- Catheter-associated UTIs, central line associated bloodstream infections, pressure ulcers and surgical site infections are among conditions that could be classified as hospital-acquired conditions.
Dive Insight:
Hospital-acquired infections are a serious concern. For one, hospitals across the U.S. have demonstrated poor infection control, according to recent reports. While such conditions were recently superseded as the eighth leading cause of death by influenza and pneumonia, hospital-acquired infections should be top of mind for administrators.
For example, a hospital-acquired infection was seen recently in a nationwide outbreak where dozens of non-tuberculosis mycobacteria infections were caused by The LivaNova PLC Stöckert 3T heater-cooler, manufactured in its Munich, Germany and Arvada, Colorado facilities. The CDC stated in October more than of 250,000 heart bypass procedures in the U.S. each year use this device.
Hospital-acquired conditions "were selected as focus areas because they occur frequently and appear to be largely preventable based on existing evidence," the HHS report says. The agency noted a 21% reduction in HAIs since 2010.