Background
Health care–associated infection (HAI) rates have fallen with the development of multifaceted
infection prevention programs. These programs require ongoing investments, however.
Our objective was to examine the cost-effectiveness of hospitals' ongoing investments
in HAI prevention in intensive care units (ICUs).
Methods
Five years of Medicare data were combined with HAI rates and cost and quality of life
estimates drawn from the literature. Life-years (LYs), quality-adjusted LYs (QALYs),
and health care expenditures with and without central line–associated bloodstream
infection (CLABSI) and/or ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), as well as incremental
cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) of multifaceted HAI prevention programs, were modeled.
Results
Total LYs and QALYs gained per ICU due to infection prevention programs were 15.55
LY and 9.61 QALY for CLABSI and 10.84 LY and 6.55 QALY for VAP. Reductions in index
admission ICU costs were $174,713.09 for CLABSI and $163,090.54 for VAP. The ICERs
were $14,250.74 per LY gained and $23,277.86 per QALY gained.
Conclusions
Multifaceted HAI prevention programs are cost-effective. Our results underscore the
importance of maintaining ongoing investments in HAI prevention. The welfare benefits
implied by the advantageous ICERs would be lost if the investments were suspended.
Key Words
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Article Info
Footnotes
This study was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research ( R01NR010107 ). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Nursing Research.
Conflicts of interest: None to report.
Identification
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© 2015 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
