About Us Get Active Health Safety Campaigns Newsroom Contact Us Please Donate Now Care Manual Resources Subscribe Now Members Stories Other Advocates Home

Hospital Acquired Infection

Fast facts about hospital-acquired infections

Hospital-acquired infections result in significant suffering

  • According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 90,000 Americans die each year from hospital- acquired infections. More people die from hospital-acquired infections than from auto accidents and homicides combined.
  • An additional 1.9 million or so get an infection that does not cause death, but depending on the type of infection, these patients spend from one to 30 extra days in the hospital getting treated. About 5-10% of hospital patients get a hospital-acquired infection.

Hospital-acquired infections contribute to the rising costs of health care

  • Hospital-acquired infections add nearly $5 billion per year to our nation's health care costs. Reducing hospital infections saves health care dollars by reducing lengths of stay and readmissions as well as reducing avoidable deaths and illnesses.
  • Postoperative sepsis, a type of bloodstream infection, causes 10.89 additional days in the hospital and additional charges of $57,727, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Hospitals can prevent hospital-acquired infections

  • Studies show that hospitals can reduce infection rates by up to 70 percent through proper implementation of infection control practices, such as hand washing. Despite these facts, one study found hospitals complied with hand washing guidelines less than 50 percent of the time.
  • A study of neonatal ICU infection found that a campaign of aggressive monitoring and education dropped the infection rate from 42 percent to 12 percent in five years.

Public reporting of health care quality data saves lives

  • A study published in Health Affairs last year on state hospital quality reporting programs concluded that "making performance information public stimulates quality improvement."
  • Four states, Missouri, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Florida, have recently adopted laws requiring hospital infection rate data to be available to the public.

Adapted from Fast Facts by Earl Lui and Lisa McGiffert, www.StopHospitalInfections.org, a project of Consumers Union

Lessons from Pennsylvania

Medicare and Medicaid were billed for about 76% of the 11,668 cases of hospital-acquired infections in Pennsylvania hospitals in 2004, with charges totaling nearly $1.4 billion for the government programs, according to a study released on Thursday by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. (Fahy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11/17).

PHC4 in July released a study finding that hospital-acquired infections last year accounted for 1,793 deaths and $2 billion in charges in Pennsylvania. PHC4 used billing data and reports from Pennsylvania hospitals to determine the rate of infections (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/13).

According to the new report, hospitals billed Medicare an additional $1 billion to treat hospital-acquired infections in 7,870 patients, while Medicaid was billed an additional $371.6 million for infections in 1,028 patients. Commercial insurers were billed an additional $603.8 million for such cases. However, the Philadelphia Inquirer notes that hospitals "collect significantly less from Medicare, Medicaid and insurers than the amount billed for care."

page 1 | page 2 | page 3 | page 4

Hartford Hospital on Probation 9 Feb Hartford Courant... more

MRSA screens urged for hospitals 30 Jan 2008 Connecticut Post ... more

Few Hospitals Screen for Staph 24 Oct 2007 AP ... more

Advice to Avoid Infection 23 Oct 2007 Wall Street Journal ... more

Hospitals Urged to Make Killer Bugs a Priority 22 Oct 2007 ... more

Declare War on Bacteria 19 Oct 2007 Hartford Courant ... more

Staph Infects 94,000 annually 17 Oct 2007 Kaiser Network ... more

Deadly Bacteria Found More Common Oct 17 2007 NY Times ... more

Leapfrog Survey: Hospitals Don't Take Steps Sept 10 2007 Leapfrog Group ... more

Hospital Infection Costs $$$ 9 Aug 2007 Boston Globe ... more

Hospital Cuts Infection 7 July 07 NY Times ... more

MRSA Watch monitors MRSA news via a unique directory ... more

Research Brief: Clostridium infections in PA Hospitals 11 May 07 PHC4 ... more

She was told she had “multi-organism sepsis” 18 May 07 LI Business News ... more

Betsy McCaughey crusades against dirty hospitals ... more

Pediatric ICUs Make Headway 18 Apr 07 The Wall Street Journal ... more

Bill would require testing for staph March 3 Peoria Journal Star ... more

Staph bug causes new, deadly pneumonia Jan 19 Reuters ... more

Two million infected in hospitals each year Jan 07 AARP Bulletin ... more

Betsy McCaughey, former NY lieutenant governor, writes in The New York Times on the devastation of hospital infection ... more

Pennsylvania First State to Report Hospital-Acquired Infection Rates:
Consumer Union article
Kaiser Network article

MRSA Infections Flood Emergency Department (MedPageToday) ... more

Bill Aims to Curb Hospital Infections (Danbury News-Times) ... more

Editorial: Hospitals' Germy Arguments (Hartford Courant ) ... more

Op-Ed: Hospitals Need to Come Clean (Hartford Courant - Betsy McCaughey) ... more

Editorial: Hospital Infections Should Be Public (New Haven Register) ... more

Landro: The Informed Patient (The Wall Street Journal)
4/5 Hospitals Get Aggressive on Hand Washing ... more
3/8 Hospitals Take New Steps Against Bacteria ... more

Hospitals Fight Fessin' Up CTCPS Quoted (New Haven Independent ) ... more

Activists Push Hospitals CTCPS Quoted (New Haven Register) ... more

An Act Concerning Hospital Acquired Infections
text of the bill that CTCPS is backing in the Connecticut legislature (PDF) View

Pa.'s Hospital-Acquired Infection Battle
Column from the Physician's News Digest. View

New Bug Sparks Fears
A Wall Street Journal story about a virulent new staph infection View

RID
Online home of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, a non-profit organization devoted solely to reducing hospital infection rates View

When Hospitals Cause Illness ...
Article in Journal Inquirer cites CTCPS View

StopHospitalInfections.org
A project of Consumers Union, this site seeks the public disclosure of hospital infection rates. View

HAI in Pennsylvania
In January 2004, Pennsylvania hospitals began submitting data on hospital-acquired infections to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4). View PDF

MRSA Watch
Collection of news about hospital infection, especially MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) infection. View

Drug-Resistant Bacteria Spreading
December 20, 2005 The Tennessean (Nashville) View

Rules on Spread of Drug-Resistant Germs December 19, 2005 Bloomberg News View

Hospital Infections: Come Clean with Patients November 29, 2005 The Philadelphia Inquirer View

Hospital Infections
November 15, 2005 NBC Channel 30, New Haven, CT View

Death Underscores Unsettling Surgical Truth November 9, 2005 The Boston Globe View

Woman Says Hospital Made Her Sick November 3, 2005 News Channel 7, Spartanburg, SC View