Research Activities, May 2010: Agency News and Notes: Treating blood infections tops annual hospital cost increases

Agency News and Notes
Treating blood infections tops annual hospital cost increases

The hospital costs for treating blood infections (septicemia) increased by an average of nearly 12 percent each year from 1997 to 2007, according to the latest data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Treatment costs for this potentially deadly blood infection increased from $4.1 billion in 1997 to $12.3 billion in 2007. After adjusting for inflation, AHRQ also found other conditions that saw high annual increases in hospital costs in each of the 11 years between 1997 and 2007:

•Osteoarthritis, up 9.5 percent each year ($4.8 billion to $11.8 billion).
•Back problems, up 9.3 percent each year ($3.5 billion to $8.5 billion).
•Acute kidney failure, up 15.3 percent per year ($1 billion to $4 billion).
•Respiratory failure, up 8.8 percent per year ($3.3 billion to $7.8 billion).
Overall, the most important driver of cost increases in the hospital was the greater intensity of services provided during a hospital stay, which grew 3.1 percent per year from 1997 to 2007. This greater intensity of services accounted for 70 percent of the total increase in hospital costs.

These findings are based on HCUP Facts and Figures 2007, which highlights the latest data from the 2007 Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a part of AHRQ's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). You can view the report at http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/factsandfigures/2007/TOC_2007.jsp.

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Research Activities, May 2010: Agency News and Notes: Treating blood infections tops annual hospital cost increases