[Mb-civic] Data Show Scourge of Hospital Infections - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Data Show Scourge of Hospital Infections

By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 13, 2005; Page A01

Nearly 12,000 Pennsylvanians contracted infections during a hospital 
stay in 2004, costing an extra $2 billion in care and at least 1,500 
preventable deaths, according to state figures released yesterday that 
officials say represent a conservative measure of one of the deadliest 
problems in modern medicine.

<>As the first state to collect data on hospital-acquired infections, 
Pennsylvania has put hard numbers on a troubling phenomenon that until 
now has only been estimated. Even so, the true infection rate and cost 
is probably much higher, the report's authors said, because of 
underreporting by many hospitals. The actual tally could be as high as 
115,000 infections, based on billing claims the hospitals submitted to 
insurers, the report said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/12/AR2005071201555.html?referrer=email 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.islandlists.com/pipermail/mb-civic/attachments/20050713/b34c5438/attachment.htm