
Infections in patients at surgical site (SSIs) in Veterans Affairs hospitals costs them twice as much as patients who do not have this complication. The greatest SSI-related costs are among patients undergoing neurosurgery.
SSIs are associated with increased complications and death. Treatment can include long courses of antibiotics, physical therapy, hospital readmissions and reoperations. Costs associated with SSIs after surgery have been under scrutiny since the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid stopped paying for increased costs associated with SSIs after some surgical procedures because many of these infections are potentially preventable.
The authors examined total, superficial and deep (more serious infections involving tissue under the skin, organs or implanted devices) SSIs in patients from 129 VA hospitals in 2010.
"Hospital administrators, policymakers, surgeons and hospital epidemiologists can use these data to make a business case for quality improvement efforts focused on SSIs."
Source: Eurekalert
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