Highlights
- •Hospital-acquired conditions increase costs to patients by $20.5 million per year.
- •Pressure ulcers and catheter-associated urinary tract infection patients are more likely to run out of Medicare coverage.
- •Added patient costs from hospital-acquired conditions occur in later health care.
Background
Hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) can increase the financial liabilities faced by
patients when the HACs require additional treatment both in the hospital and in subsequent
health care encounters. This article estimates incremental effects of 6 HACs on Medicare
beneficiary financial liabilities.
Methods
Descriptive and multivariate analyses were used to examine the differences in beneficiary
liability between care episodes with and without HACs. Episodes included the index
hospitalization in which the HAC occurred and all inpatient, outpatient, and physician
claims within 90 days of index hospital discharge. Medicare fee-for-service patients
discharged from a hospital in fiscal year (FY) 2009 or FY 2010 with severe pressure
ulcer, fracture, catheter-associated urinary tract infection, vascular catheter-associated
infection, surgical site infection, or deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism
after certain orthopedic procedures were matched by diagnosis, sex, race, and age
to with patients without HACs.
Results
Medicare patients were liable for an additional $20.5 million per year across the
HAC episodes compared with what they would have owed without the HACs. Beneficiaries
with HACs were also more likely to exhaust their Part A days in the index hospitalization.
Conclusions
HACs create significant financial burden for Medicare beneficiaries. The incremental
financial liabilities are concentrated in the episode of care after the index hospitalization
with the HAC. Policies and programs that reduce HAC incidence will improve Medicare
beneficiaries' physical and financial health.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 09, 2016
Footnotes
Conflicts of Interest: None to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
