Estimating the hospital costs of inpatient harms.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the additional hospital costs associated with inpatient medical harms occurring during an index inpatient admission and costs from subsequent readmissions within 90 days. DATA SOURCE: 2009 to 2011 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's State Inpatient Databases from 12 states. STUDY
DESIGN: We compare hospital costs incurred by patients experiencing a specific harm during their hospital stay to the costs incurred by similar patients who did not experience that harm. DATA EXTRACTION: We extracted records for adult patients admitted for a reason other than rehabilitation or mental health, were at risk of a harm, and were admitted for less than a year. PRINCIPAL
FINDINGS: The costliest inpatient harms, such as surgical site infections and severe pressure ulcers, are associated with approximately $30 000 in additional index stay costs per harm. Less costly harms, such as catheter- or hospital-associated urinary tract infections and venous thromboembolism, can add $6000 to $13 000. Birth and obstetric traumas add as little as $100.
CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis represents rigorous estimates of the hospital costs of a variety of inpatient harms; these should be of interest to health care administrators and policy makers to identify areas for cost savings to the health care system. © Health Research and Educational Trust.