Estimating the hospital costs of inpatient harms.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: 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.
SUBMITTER: Anand P
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6338300 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Estimating the hospital costs of inpatient harms.
Anand Priyanka P Kranker Keith K Chen Arnold Y AY
Health services research 20181011 1
<h4>Objective</h4>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.<h4>Data source</h4>2009 to 2011 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's State Inpatient Databases from 12 states.<h4>Study design</h4>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 experi ...[more]
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Project description:ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the impact of all-cause inpatient harms on hospital finances and patient clinical outcomes.Research designA retrospective analysis of inpatient harm from 24 hospitals in a large multistate health system was conducted during 2009 to 2012 using the Institute of Healthcare Improvement Global Trigger Tool for Measuring Adverse Events. Inpatient harms were detected and categorized into harm (F-I), temporary harm (E), and no harm.ResultsOf the 21,007 inpatients in this study, 15,610 (74.3%) experienced no harm, 2818 (13.4%) experienced temporary harm, and 2579 (12.3%) experienced harm. A patient with harm was estimated to have higher total cost ($4617 [95% confidence interval (CI), $4364 to 4871]), higher variable cost ($1774 [95% CI, $1648 to $1900]), lower contribution margin (-$1112 [95% CI, -$1378 to -$847]), longer length of stay (2.6 d [95% CI, 2.5 to 2.8]), higher mortality probability (59%; odds ratio, 1.4 [95% CI, 1.0 to 2.0]), and higher 30-day readmission probability (74.4%; odds ratio, 2.9 [95% CI, 2.6 to 3.2]). A patient with temporary harm was estimated to have higher total cost ($2187 [95% CI, $2008 to $2366]), higher variable cost ($800 [95% CI, $709 to $892]), lower contribution margin (-$669 [95% CI, -$891 to -$446]), longer length of stay (1.3 d [95% CI, 1.2 to 1.4]), mortality probability not statistically different, and higher 30-day readmission probability (54.6%; odds ratio, 1.2 [95% CI, 1.1 to 1.4]). Total health system reduction of harm was associated with a decrease of $108 million in total cost, $48 million in variable cost, an increase of contribution margin by $18 million, and savings of 60,000 inpatient care days.ConclusionsThis all-cause harm safety study indicates that inpatient harm has negative financial outcomes for hospitals and negative clinical outcomes for patients.
| S-EPMC5965919 | biostudies-literature
Project description:OBJECTIVE: To develop a tool for estimating hospital-specific inpatient prices for major payers. DATA SOURCES: AHRQ Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases and complete hospital financial reporting of revenues mandated in 10 states for 2006. STUDY DESIGN: Hospital discharge records and hospital financial information were merged to estimate revenue per stay by payer. Estimated prices were validated against other data sources. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Hospital prices can be reasonably estimated for 10 geographically diverse states. All-payer price-to-charge ratios, an intermediate step in estimating prices, compare favorably to cost-to-charge ratios. Estimated prices also compare well with Medicare, MarketScan private insurance, and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey prices for major payers, given limitations of each dataset. CONCLUSIONS: Public reporting of prices is a consumer resource in making decisions about health care treatment; for self-pay patients, they can provide leverage in negotiating discounts off of charges. Researchers can also use prices to increase understanding of the level and causes of price differentials among geographic areas. Prices by payer expand investigational tools available to study the interaction of inpatient hospital price setting among public and private payers--an important asset as the payer mix changes with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
| S-EPMC3796114 | biostudies-other
Project description:Healthcare-associated infections are common, costly, and potentially deadly. However, effective prevention strategies are underutilized, particularly for catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), one of the most common healthcare-associated infections. Further, since 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services no longer reimburses hospitals for the additional costs of caring for patients who develop CAUTI during hospitalization. Given the resulting payment pressures on hospitals stemming from this decision, it is important to factor in cost implications when attempting to encourage decision makers to support infection prevention measures. To this end, we present a simple tool (with easy-to-use online implementation) that hospitals can use to estimate hospital costs due to CAUTI, both before and after an intervention, to reduce inappropriate urinary catheterization. Using previously published cost and risk estimates, we show that an intervention yielding clinically feasible reductions in catheter use can lead to an estimated 50% reduction in CAUTI-related costs. Our tool is meant to complement the Society of Hospital Medicine's Choosing Wisely campaign, which highlights avoiding placement or continued use of nonindicated urinary catheters as a key area for improving decision making and quality of care while decreasing costs.
| S-EPMC3786530 | biostudies-other
Project description:IntroductionReliable cost and resource use data for COVID-19 hospitalizations are crucial to better inform local healthcare resource decisions; however, available data are limited and vary significantly.MethodsCOVID-19 hospital admissions data from the Premier Healthcare Database were evaluated to estimate hospital costs, length of stay (LOS), and discharge status. Adult COVID-19 patients (ICD-10-CM: U07.1) hospitalized in the US from April 1 to December 31, 2020, were identified. Analyses were stratified by patient and hospital characteristics, levels of care during hospitalization, and discharge status. Factors associated with changes in costs, LOS, and discharge status were estimated using regression analyses. Monthly trends in costs, LOS, and discharge status were examined.ResultsOf the 247,590 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, 49% were women, 76% were aged ≥ 50, and 36% were admitted to intensive care units (ICU). Overall median hospital LOS, cost, and cost/day were 6 days, US$11,267, and $1772, respectively; overall median ICU LOS, cost, and cost/day were 5 days, $13,443, and $2902, respectively. Patients requiring mechanical ventilation had the highest hospital and ICU median costs ($47,454 and $41,510) and LOS (16 and 11 days), respectively. Overall, 14% of patients died in hospital and 52% were discharged home. Older age, Black and Caucasian race, hypertension and obesity, treatment with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and discharge to long-term care facilities were major drivers of costs, LOS, and risk of death. Admissions in December had significantly lower median hospital and ICU costs and LOS compared to April.ConclusionThe burden from COVID-19 in terms of hospital and ICU costs and LOS has been substantial, though significant decreases in cost and LOS and increases in the share of hospital discharges to home were observed from April to December 2020. These estimates will be useful for inputs to economic models, disease burden forecasts, and local healthcare resource planning.
| S-EPMC8491188 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundHigh adiposity is associated with higher risks for a variety of adverse health outcomes, including higher rates of age-adjusted mortality and increased morbidity. This has important implications for the management of healthcare systems, since the endocrinal, cardiometabolic and other changes associated with increased adiposity may be associated with substantial healthcare costs.MethodsWe studied the association between various measures of adiposity and inpatient hospital costs through record linkage between UK Biobank and records of inpatient care in England and Wales. UK Biobank is a large prospective cohort study that aimed to recruit men and women aged between 40 and 69 from 2006 to 2010. We applied generalised linear models to cost per person year to estimate the marginal effect of adiposity, and average adjusted predicted costs of adiposity.ResultsValid cost and body mass index (BMI) data from 457,689 participants were available for inferential analysis. Some 54.4% of individuals included in the analysis sample had positive inpatient healthcare costs over the period of follow-up. Median hospital costs per person-year of follow-up were £89, compared to mean costs of £481. Mean BMI overall was 27.4 kg/m2 (standard deviation 4.8). The marginal effect of a unit increase in BMI was £13.61 (99% confidence interval £12.60-£14.63) per person-year of follow up. The marginal effect of a standard deviation increase in BMI was £69.20 (99% confidence interval £64.98-£73.42). The marginal effect of becoming obese was £136.35 (99% confidence interval £124.62-£148.08). Average adjusted predicted inpatient hospital costs increased almost linearly when modelled using continuous measure of adiposity. Sensitivity analysis of different scenarios did not substantially change these conclusions, although there was some evidence of attenuation of the effects of adiposity when controlling for waist-hip ratios, and when individuals who self-reported any pre-existing conditions were excluded from analysis.ConclusionsHigher adiposity is associated with higher inpatient hospital costs. Further scrutiny using causal inferential methods is warranted to establish if further public health investments are required to manage the large healthcare costs observationally associated with overweight and obesity.
| S-EPMC6535149 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo determine the association between hospital costs and risk-adjusted inpatient mortality among children undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD) in U.S. acute-care hospitals.Data sources/study settingsRetrospective cohort study of 35,446 children in 2003, 2006, and 2009 Kids' Inpatient Database (KID).Study designCross-sectional logistic regression of risk-adjusted inpatient mortality and hospital costs, adjusting for a variety of patient-, hospital-, and community-level confounders.Data collection/extraction methodsWe identified relevant discharges in the KID using the AHRQ Pediatric Quality Indicator for pediatric heart surgery mortality, and linked these records to hospital characteristics from American Hospital Association Surveys and community characteristics from the Census.Principal findingsChildren undergoing CHD surgery in higher cost hospitals had lower risk-adjusted inpatient mortality (p=.002). An increase from the 25th percentile of treatment costs to the 75th percentile was associated with a 13.6 percent reduction in risk-adjusted mortality.ConclusionsGreater hospital costs are associated with lower risk-adjusted inpatient mortality for children undergoing CHD surgery. The specific mechanisms by which greater costs improve mortality merit further exploration.
| S-EPMC3976188 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesTo describe hospital utilization and costs associated with preterm or low birth weight births (preterm/LBW) by payer prior to implementation of the Affordable Care Act and to identify areas for improvement in the quality of care received among preterm/LBW infants.MethodsHospital utilization-defined as mean length of stay (LOS, days), secondary diagnoses for birth hospitalizations, primary diagnoses for rehospitalizations, and transfer status-and costs were described among preterm/LBW infants using the 2009 Nationwide Inpatient Sample.ResultsApproximately 9.1 % of included hospitalizations (n = 4,167,900) were births among preterm/LBW infants; however, these birth hospitalizations accounted for 43.4 % of total costs. Rehospitalizations of all infants occurred at a rate of 5.9 % overall, but accounted for 22.6 % of total costs. This pattern was observed across all payer types. The prevalence of rehospitalizations was nearly twice as high among preterm/LBW infants covered by Medicaid (7.6 %) compared to commercially-insured infants (4.3 %). Neonatal transfers were more common among preterm/LBW infants whose deliveries and hospitalizations were covered by Medicaid (7.3 %) versus commercial insurance (6.5 %). Uninsured/self-pay preterm and LBW infants died in-hospital during the first year of life at a rate of 91 per 1000 discharges-nearly three times higher than preterm and LBW infants covered by either Medicaid (37 per 1000) or commercial insurance (32 per 1000).ConclusionsWhen comparing preterm/LBW infants whose births were covered by Medicaid and commercial insurance, there were few differences in length of hospital stays and costs. However, opportunities for improvement within Medicaid and CHIP exist with regard to reducing rehospitalizations and neonatal transfers.
| S-EPMC4794344 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Importance:As prospective payment transitions to bundled reimbursement, many US hospitals are implementing protocols to shorten hospitalization after major surgery. These efforts could have unintended consequences and increase overall surgical episode spending if they induce more frequent postdischarge care use or readmissions. Objective:To evaluate the association between early postoperative discharge practices and overall surgical episode spending and expenditures for postdischarge care use and readmissions. Design, Setting, and Participants:This investigation was a cross-sectional cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries undergoing colectomy (189?229 patients at 1876 hospitals), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) (218?940 patients at 1056 hospitals), or total hip replacement (THR) (231?774 patients at 1831 hospitals) between January 1, 2009, and June 30, 2012. The dates of the analysis were September 1, 2015, to May 31, 2016. Associations between surgical episode payments and hospitals' length of stay (LOS) mode were evaluated among a risk and postoperative complication-matched cohort of patients without major postoperative complications. To further control for potential differences between hospitals, a within-hospital comparison was also performed evaluating the change in hospitals' mean surgical episode payments according to their change in LOS mode during the study period. Exposure:Undergoing surgery in a hospital with short vs long postoperative hospitalization practices, characterized according to LOS mode, a measure least sensitive to postoperative outliers. Main Outcomes and Measures:Risk-adjusted, price-standardized, 90-day overall surgical episode payments and their components, including index, outlier, readmission, physician services, and postdischarge care. Results:A total of 639?943 Medicare beneficiaries were included in the study. Total surgical episode payments for risk and postoperative complication-matched patients were significantly lower among hospitals with lowest vs highest LOS mode ($26?482 vs $29?250 for colectomy, $44?777 vs $47?675 for CABG, and $24?553 vs $27?927 for THR; P?<?.001 for all). Shortest LOS hospitals did not exhibit a compensatory increase in payments for postdischarge care use ($4011 vs $5083 for colectomy, P?<?.001; $6015 vs $6355 for CABG, P?=?.14; and $7132 vs $9552 for THR, P?<?.001) or readmissions ($2606 vs $2887 for colectomy, P?=?.16; $3175 vs $3064 for CABG, P?=?.67; and $1373 vs $1514 for THR, P?=?.93). Hospitals that exhibited the greatest decreases in LOS mode had the highest reductions in surgical episode payments during the study period. Conclusions and Relevance:Early routine postoperative discharge after major inpatient surgery is associated with lower total surgical episode payments. There is no evidence that savings from shorter postsurgical hospitalization are offset by higher postdischarge care spending. Therefore, accelerated postoperative care protocols appear well aligned with the goals of bundled payment initiatives for surgical episodes.
| S-EPMC5478875 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background:Norovirus places a substantial burden on healthcare systems, arising from infected patients, disease outbreaks, beds kept unoccupied for infection control, and staff absences due to infection. In settings with high rates of bed occupancy, opportunity costs arise from patients who cannot be admitted due to beds being unavailable. With several treatments and vaccines against norovirus in development, quantifying the expected economic burden is timely. Methods:The number of inpatients with norovirus-associated gastroenteritis in England was modeled using infectious and noninfectious gastrointestinal Hospital Episode Statistics codes and laboratory reports of gastrointestinal pathogens collected at Public Health England. The excess length of stay from norovirus was estimated with a multistate model and local outbreak data. Unoccupied bed-days and staff absences were estimated from national outbreak surveillance. The burden was valued conventionally using accounting expenditures and wages, which we contrasted to the opportunity costs from forgone patients using a novel methodology. Results:Between July 2013 and June 2016, 17.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 15.6%?21.6%) of primary and 23.8% (95% CI, 20.6%?29.9%) of secondary gastrointestinal diagnoses were norovirus attributable. Annually, the estimated median 290000 (interquartile range, 282000?297000) occupied and unoccupied bed-days used for norovirus displaced 57800 patients. Conventional costs for the National Health Service reached £107.6 million; the economic burden approximated to £297.7 million and a loss of 6300 quality-adjusted life-years annually. Conclusions:In England, norovirus is now the second-largest contributor of the gastrointestinal hospital burden. With the projected impact being greater than previously estimated, improved capture of relevant opportunity costs seems imperative for diseases such as norovirus.
| S-EPMC6094002 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In this paper we examine the incremental cost of marijuana comorbidity for alcohol, mood and thought diagnoses in hospital settings. We use data from the 1993-2000 National Hospital Discharge Survey to examine the effect on length of stay and the 1995-2000 Florida Hospital Discharge Data to examine charges. General linear modeling (GLM) and propensity score methods are employed to deal with concerns stemming from the distribution of the dependent variables and statistically significant differences in the baseline characteristics of marijuana users versus non-users. Marijuana comorbidity is associated with longer length of stays and higher charges for patients suffering from a primary diagnosis of an alcohol problem. We also find higher average charges for patients suffering from mood disorders, though the finding is not robust across all model specifications. We do not find any significant effects for thought disorders. Findings from this study suggest that a marijuana comorbidity increases the cost of treating patients with alcohol problems and mood disorder diagnoses, implying that there may be real health consequences associated with marijuana abuse and dependence and more work considering this possibility is warranted.
| S-EPMC2212669 | biostudies-literature