More Than 30,000 Patients Acquired Infections at Pennsylvania Hospitals in 2006, Study Finds

More than 30,000 patients acquired infections at Pennsylvania hospitals in 2006, according to a Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council report released on Thursday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Goldstein, Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/10). The number of patients with hospital-acquired infections increased from 19,154 in 2005 to 30,237 in 2006, due in part to an expansion in the categories of cases that hospitals are required to report, according to the council (Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/10). The infection rate decreased by 7% when the council compared the last three months of 2006 to the same period in 2005, when hospitals reported the same infection rate data.

Patients with hospital-acquired infections on average remained in the hospital for 19 days, compared with people who did not acquire inflections and stayed fewer than five days (Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/10). According to the study, hospital charges for patients with hospital-acquired infections averaged nearly $175,964 per patient, compared with $33,260 for other patients (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/10). The most common hospital-acquired infections were urinary tract infections, gastrointestinal infections and pneumonia.

Pennsylvania was the first state to mandate that hospitals report infections and the first to publicly report infection rates by hospital (Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/10). This is the second report from the council (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/10).

The report is available online.

Proof of Residency
In other Pennsylvania news, the state Senate on Wednesday voted 39-10 to approve a bill (SB 9) that would require people to prove they are U.S. citizens or legal U.S. residents before obtaining public benefits, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The bill is designed to prevent undocumented immigrants from obtaining public benefits granted to U.S. citizens or documented U.S. residents, other than those deemed essential to public health. Critics call the bill unnecessary, saying that there is no proof that undocumented immigrants have improperly received such benefits and that the bill will hurt U.S. citizens or documented U.S. residents who do not have proof of identity. Residents who would not be required to provide documentation include children under age 18, disabled residents who receive Supplemental Security Income or Social Security, and seniors eligible for Medicare (Levy, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/10).