Hospital-acquired infections make up a significant portion of health insurance costs in America. They add up to over $28 billion to healthcare expenses each year. More importantly, 99,000 Americans die each year from sicknesses they got in the very places that are supposed to make them feel better. Meanwhile, 1.7 million people fall ill annually. It costs health insurance companies millions of dollars to nurse all of these patients back to health. The saddest part is that the vast majority of these illnesses and deaths are preventable.
Doctors, nurses, and other hospital employees try their best to keep their patients from acquiring devastating bugs like MRSA. Some hospitals are placing a greater focus on hygiene, and using technology that allows less room for contamination. This is a change from the previous goal of eliminating all bacteria from the hospital environment, which just made things worse for patients. It seems counter-intuitive, but allowing sick patients to be exposed to naturally occurring, healthy bacteria (by limiting the unnecessary use of antibiotics and feeding them yogurt containing probiotics) may give them a better chance of survival.
Simple accountability has also helped. States such as Pennsylvania and Michigan have seen infection rates decrease after the establishment of strict reporting standards. A hospital group in the latter state created a checklist that decreased central line infections and saved health insurance plans and patients $246 million!
In 2008, Medicare stopped paying for the treatment of infections related to surgery or catheters. Many private medical insurance companies may follow suit in the future.
Tags: health insurance, hospitals, infections, medical insurance, medicare, mrsa
