"Bill of Health"-Infection Connection
Thursday, December 28, 2006JEFF YASTINE: Most Americans check into hospitals in order to recover from an illness or injury. But a disturbing trend is emerging from the nation's hospitals that could hamper those recoveries: a growing number of staph and other infections. Staph is a killer and it's tough to stop, especially once it's picked up by hospital patients. In tonight's bill of health report, we look at why infections present a problem and an opportunity for administrators and entrepreneurs alike.
It's a problem that's all too common for anyone who enters a hospital for treatment -- the danger of infection during your stay. The Centers for Disease Control says roughly one in 10 hospitalized patients will acquire an infection after being admitted. That's about 1.7 million incidents annually resulting in the deaths of roughly 99,000 patients each year. Dr. Allan Hartstein is an epidemiologist and professor of clinical medicine at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine.
DR. ALAN HARTSTEIN, PROFESSOR OF CLINICAL MEDICINE, UNIV. OF MIAMI MILLER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: My impression is that it is an increasing concern among the public as well as among providers. Infections do occur. Approximately five percent of all patients who enter a hospital uninfected develop infections during their stay. And most importantly, it's now felt that a large proportion, not all, but a large proportion can potentially be prevented.
YASTINE: Prevented, say experts through increased hand washing or use of alcohol-based hand rubs by doctors, nurses and technicians in the course of seeing patients. Some firms have even promoted the use of applied anti- bacterial sprays like these on floors and other surfaces as yet another way to kill bacteria on contact and reduce the chance of infection during hospital stays. One study conducted among Pennsylvania's hospitals, showed just how high medical cost rise because of infections. Dr. Asif Ali is president of AMG Scientific.
DR. ASIF ALI, PRESIDENT, AMG SCIENTIFIC: They showed just tracking 300 hospitals that the impact in that state alone was over $2 billion. And the reason is, in the same study that I'm speaking of, in patients who did not have nosocomial (ph) infections, the average hospital cost was around $8,000. Once a patient did have a nosocomial infection in the hospital, that went up fivefold.
YASTINE: Another problem is finding accurate and timely data on infection trends. The CDC maintains a database using information voluntarily reported by hospitals. But in 2005, Pennsylvania and Florida became the first states to begin requiring hospitals to report infection data.
Epidemiologists say these databases help show where hospitals can improve, but they also caution that the information by itself can be misleading. The size and mission of the hospital and the health of the community it serves, all have an impact on the data.
