Reducing costs is a serious business in acute- and post-acute care facilities. Hospitals must manage budgets by looking at their expenses with supplies used and the added cost of treatment for hospital-acquired conditions and readmissions, as well as with reduced CMS reimbursement payments via their value-based purchasing program.

The supply chain has long been a prime cost-reduction target for hospital and health system leaders. Everything from the cleaning products used to the medications and medical equipment used to treat patients, supply costs represent close to one-third of the average hospital’s overall operating expenses, and they are projected to surpass labor as the greatest expense by 2020.1

But supply costs aren’t the only thing driving up hospital costs. Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), the most common type of hospital-acquired infection (HAI), carry a 3%-7% daily infection risk for patients with indwelling urinary catheters2 — and cost hospitals anywhere from $4,694 to $29,743 per occurrence.3 Central-line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) affect approximately 41,000 people each year, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality, with an average cost of $70,696 (range $40,412-$100,980) per occurrence.4-6

Improving patient outcomes to reduce HAIs can have a two-fold impact on hospital budgets by not only saving on the cost of treatment but also improving or at least optimizing reimbursements from CMS and third-party payors. For hospitals and facilities with greater than the 75th percentile of all Total HAC Scores (that is, the worst-performing quartile), CMS reduces the payments owed by 1%, which can have a significant impact on already lean profit margins.

Theraworx Protect, when added to a CAUTI or CLABSI infection prevention bundle, may help facilities achieve cost savings associated with reduced HAIs and readmissions — and it often costs less per use than other bathing and hygiene products.

CAUTI Case Study

In a 2015 case study published in Health Purchasing News July 2015, it was determined that a 254-bed hospital in Chicago had a cost of CAUTI that exceeded $11,000, related to unreimbursed expense — before the reimbursement implications of potential hospital-acquired condition penalties or Value-Based Purchasing Withholds impacted by high CAUTI rates. This particular facility implemented all of the guidelines set by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology and still saw 37 CAUTIs in the year prior to trial of Theraworx Protect 2-cloth wipes and foam cleanser. They were able to determine with their GPO pricing that they could justify the added expense by eliminating only 2.5 CAUTIs per year.  They were able to lower their CAUTI rate by 24% (dropping CAUTI cases from 37 to 29), effectively avoiding the cost of 6.5 CAUTI cases after factoring the expense of adding the new product to their CAUTI prevention bundle, a savings of more than $70,000.7

But these results are not stand-alone. In an 8-hospital clinical trial with the addition of Theraworx Protect products to CAUTI prevention bundles across a variety of care settings, CAUTI rates per 1000 catheter days dropped between 24% and 100%.8

CLABSI Case Study

Two hospitals in Northern California, representing 800 beds, applied CDC guidelines for CLABSI prevention and still struggled with nearly 30 CLABSI incidents in the year prior to the product trial. At $70,696 per incident, this easily added nearly $2 million in costs. After adding Theraworx Protect to their infection prevention bundle and adding performance team improvements to existing practice standards, the hospitals reported a drop of more than 60% total CLABSI incidents across both facilities, representing a cost savings of more than $1 million.9

Looking to Alternatives: A Novel Topical Hygiene Solution

Theraworx Protect is a multi-ingredient skin formulation designed to reduce macro and micro debris from the skin while simultaneously supporting the skin’s acid mantle and the natural antimicrobial functions of the skin’s outermost layer, the stratum corneum.10-11 As a non-antiseptic, non-drug product available in wipes, foam and spray, Theraworx Protect can help you achieve your patient bathing and peri-care goals without the risk of antiseptic resistance. Contact us for more information or to request clinical studies.

References:

  1. STAT website. In the hospital supply chain, too many choices can be costly. https://www.statnews.com/2019/11/19/hospital-supply-chain-overspending-too-many-choices/. Accessed November 13, 2020.
  2. Mueller CJ, Castagno WJ. Standardizing urinary catheter care and maintenance in the intensive care unit. Am J Infect Control. 2018;46(6). doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2018.04.026. Accessed November 13, 2020.
  3. AHRQ website. Estimating the additional hospital inpatient cost and mortality associated with selected hospital-acquired conditions. https://www.ahrq.gov/hai/pfp/haccost2017-results.html Accessed November 13, 2020.
  4. AHRQ website. Eliminating CLABSI, a national patient safety imperative: final report companion guide. https://www.ahrq.gov/hai/cusp/clabsi-final-companion/clabsicomp4c.html. Accessed November 13, 2020.
  5. AHRQ website. Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI). https://www.ahrq.gov/topics/central-line-associated-bloodstream-infections-clabsi.html. Accessed November 13, 2020.
  6. National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. NHSN central line-associated bloodstream infection surveillance in 2014. https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/PDFs/training/training-CLABSI-2014-with-answers-BW.pdf. Accessed November 13, 2020.
  7. Hoffman C. Trial without error: calculating the actual cost and benefits of a CAUTI therapy. Healthcare Purchasing News. July 2015. https://cdn.hpnonline.com/editions/A3pza3/1507-HPN/resources/46.htm. Accessed November 13, 2020.
  8. Renzulli JF. Theraworx skin care formulation reduces nosocomial associated CAUTI rates when used for urinary catheter insertion and maintenance. Clin Med Invest. 2017;2. doi: 10.15761/CMI.1000129.
  9. Gibbs N, Mills J, John Muir Health. Nurse-led practice initiative reduces CLABSI standardized infection ratio (SIR). Poster presented at the ANCC Magnet Conference, October 2017 (PG5 Poster Group 5).
  10. Paulson DS, Topp R, Boykin RE, Schultz G, Yang Q. Efficacy and safety of a novel skin cleansing formulation versus chlorhexidine gluconate. Am J Infect Control. 2018;46(11):1262-1265.
  11. Wiemken TL, Kelley RR, Carrico RM, Binford LE, Guinn BE, Mattingly WA, et al. Efficacy of a novel skin antiseptic against carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Am J Infect Control. 2015;43(4): 380-382.