Report: 19,000 Pa. Hospital Infections in 2005

  

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - November 14, 2006 -- Pennsylvania hospitals reported that more than 19,000 patients contracted an infection while in their care in 2005, according to a report being billed as the first in the nation to measure how many infections occur at specific hospitals.

The number of reported infections grew 64 percent from 2004 to 2005, but the newer data covered more types of surgery and more infection types, according to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council report released Tuesday. Also, hospitals have continued to improve their reporting, the council said.

The report lists the infection rates at most of the 168 hospitals in Pennsylvania, and compares them with other institutions among their peer groups, such as those treating similar numbers and offering similar services.

Among the top group of approximately two dozen hospitals, Reading Hospital and Medical Center had the highest rate of infection at 21.5 infections per 1,000 patients treated, just ahead of Temple University Hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Allegheny General Hospital.

However, the three hospitals statewide that reported electronically - as opposed to staff manually reviewing case files - showed higher rates. Those hospitals included Butler Memorial Hospital (39.4) and Hamot Medical Center (39.1).

Before the council began releasing its reports, hospital-infection statistics were based on estimates or extrapolations from small studies, said Lisa McGiffert of the Washington, D.C.-based Consumers Union.

"These are real numbers, real people who have been infected," McGiffert said. "This is the first time in the nation that a report has come out based on infections, with the hospital identified as being acquired there."

An increasing number of states are showing interest in requiring hospitals to publicly disclose their infection rates. At least 12 states require such public reporting, but no state's reporting is as broad or advanced as Pennsylvania's, McGiffert said.

Overall, just over 1 percent of the nearly 1.6 million patients whose cases were studied contracted an infection while in a Pennsylvania hospital, according to the council, a quasi-government agency that analyzes the finances and performance of the state's hospitals.

There were 19,154 hospital-acquired infections reported in 2005 compared with 11,668 in 2004, according to Tuesday's report. A patient who contracts an infection in a hospital faces a much higher likelihood of dying, as well as higher hospital bills.

The report said hospital-borne infections contributed to nearly 400,000 additional days that patients spent in hospitals. The average private insurer's payment for a patient who contracted a hospital-borne infection was almost $54,000, more than six times as high as for a patient who did not contract one, the council said.

Mortality rates for patients who contracted an infection were more than five times higher than for patients who did not, its report said.

The council's report showed substantial fluctuations in infection rates from hospital to hospital. McGiffert cautioned that some hospitals may have better reporting systems than others, or may be more aggressive about reporting infections.

Such public disclosure, however, is likely to bring pressure from the public and the industry to strengthen and broaden reporting on hospital infections, McGiffert said.

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