After conducting an impact study on the financial costs and increased length of stay (LOS) associated with certain adverse events that occur in hospitals across the country, American Data Network (ADN) has made available an easy-to-use tool for calculating the total excess cost of specific patient safety indicators in any facility.
While the assumption has long existed that adverse patient safety events do lead to increased resource utilization and greater intensity of services, resulting in additional costs and days of hospitalization, healthcare facilities may not have a sound understanding of which events are the most costly to their patients and to their organization. ADN’s new publication, A Business Case: Identifying Excess Cost & Length of Stay of Adverse Patient Safety Events, aims to demystify the concept and help individual facilities target patient safety efforts in areas where they can have the most significant financial impact.
Using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ’s) Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs), which are widely accepted for identifying complications or adverse events, ADN analysts evaluated excess cost and Length of Stay (LOS) for 10 types of events including pressure ulcers, catheter related bloodstream infections, respiratory failure and sepsis. Analysts benchmarked data against the most recent HCUP All Payer database (4+ million records representing 484 facilities) and CMS MEDPAR database (13+ million records representing 3,378 facilities). Some of the study’s most eye-opening revelations included the following:
Based on a review of HCUP All Payer Data:
Based on a review of CMS MEDPAR data:
In order to help providers apply the findings of this study, ADN has created a free online calculator that can assist facilities in quantifying their own excess cost and LOS for selected PSIs simply by entering a few figures related to their own volumes, costs and LOS. To access the full report and learn more about ADN’s findings and the methodology used in conducting this study, click here.
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