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Study: Preventing Health Care-Associated Infections Boosts Survival Rates for Elderly ICU Patients

Our malpractice attorneys in Seattle report of a new study that examines the effects of infection-prevention in ICUs.

A new study examining the effect of infection-prevention efforts in intensive-care units (ICUs) shows that these efforts save lives and money.

The study, from the Columbia School of Nursing and published in the January issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, reports that elderly patients admitted to an ICU who develop an infection while in the hospital are 35 percent more likely to die within five years of leaving the hospital.

Further, the study shows preventing the most common infections acquired in the hospital – infections of the bloodstream caused by central lines and pneumonia caused by ventilators – increases the odds of survival for these patients and reduces the cost of their care by more than $150,000.

“Any death from preventable infections is one too many,” senior study author Patricia Stone, PhD, RN, FAAN, said in a press release. Stone is the director of the Center for Health Policy at Columbia University School of Nursing. “We’ve known for decades what works to prevent infections and save lives. Now, our study shows just how much money can be saved by investing in prevention,” she said.

The study assessed the cost and effectiveness of infection-prevention protocols by examining the outcomes for more than 17,000 elderly Medicare patients admitted to 31 hospitals in 2002 and used five years of Medicare data claims data to determine long-term outcomes and health costs stemming from infections related to health care.

In the long run, the study found that prevention protocols for reduced ICU costs for patients with central-line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) by $174,713 and by $163,090 for patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). The ongoing costs for ICU infection-prevention programs average $145,000.

“This evidence points definitively to the value of investing in infection prevention,” lead study author Andrew Dick, PhD, senior economist at RAND Corporation, stated in the press release.

The study found that while 57 percent of all elderly ICU patients died within five years, infections increased the likelihood of death. Of patients who developed CLASBI, 75 percent of patients died within five years. For patients with VAP, the death rate was 77 percent, according to the study.

The researchers found that prevention programs for CLASBI increased the average lifespan for patients treated in the ICU by 15.55 years. Central lines deliver medicine and nutrition to patients who have them and they must be kept free from infection. Infection prevention includes hand washing and immediately changing the central line dressing if it gets dirty or wet.

Infection-prevention efforts for VAP patients increased the lifespan of such patients treated in the ICU by an estimated 10.84 years, the study found. These prevention efforts can include elevating the bed for patients with ventilators. Infections can happen when patients who can’t breathe on their own lie flat in bed for a long period of time.

The Seattle medical malpractice attorneys at Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC, represent families throughout Washington State in cases involving medical malpractice and negligent patient harm resulting in infection. Please contact us for a free consultation.