News: CAUTIs cost anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 for hospitals

CMS has long since penalized facilities for catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) and other hospital-acquired conditions in order to financially incentivize hospitals to take infection prevention steps.

However, without a clear sense of how much CAUTIs cost, hospitals may not be appropriately responding to those financial incentives, according to HealthLeaders Media.

Although $1,000 is often cited as the average cost of treating a CAUTI, that figure is likely too low, according to a study published by the American Journal of Infection Control. The study’s authors conducted a systematic review of existing literature in an effort to better understand the cost data, according to HealthLeaders Media.

The researchers excluded studies that were based on the marked-up prices providers charged for CAUTI-related services, focusing on studies conducted in the United States between 2000 and 2017 with patient-level cost data. Because of their parameters, they ended up with four studies for analysis.

Costs attributable to a CAUTI, as reported in the four studies, ranged from $876 to $10,197, according to HealthLeaders Media. The low end of the range came from a study of adult patients in an inpatient setting with costs calculated from the hospital’s perspective. The high end came from a study of intensive care unit patients with costs calculated from Medicare’s perspective.

The evidence suggests that a CAUTI costs depends heavily on the patient’s acuity, the population served, and the cost perspective, HealthLeaders Media reported.

Even with the rough numbers, the study’s authors wrote, there’s reason to believe CAUTIs cost much more than previously thought, although they suggested that additional research is warranted.

 Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in HealthLeaders Media. To read the full study from the American Journal of Infection Control, click here. To read about the current rate of CAUTIs and other hospital-acquired conditions according to the CDC, click here.