C. auris is on everyone’s mind. With cases quickly rising in the U.S., many hospitals report that it’s not a matter of if but when C. auris will affect their hospital.
Not only are healthcare leaders concerned about protecting their patients and staff, but they also need to weigh the financial implications of a C. auris outbreak. Here are the top concerns around the cost of C. auris:
In order to minimize the financial effects of C. auris, hospitals need powerful disinfection tools that eliminate C. auris spores and reduce the risk of an outbreak.
Find out about the real cost of C. auris for hospitals, and see how your hospital can fight back.
Cost of Care for C. Auris Patients
When a patient is infected with C. auris, they’re often due for an extended hospital stay, which can quickly become costly.
According to a 2023 report by the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration, one hospital system reported that C. auris patients stayed an additional 9.8 days on average, and the cost of HAI care averaged $3,915 per patient. With cases increasing, these costs could balloon out of control.
Cost of Readmission
Hospitals should also be wary of readmissions associated with increasing C. auris cases. A readmission is defined as a patient returning for additional care within a specific time frame (typically 30 days) after their initial discharge.
HAI patients are especially likely to be readmitted, with up to 30% of all readmissions attributed to HAI cases. As C. auris cases are climbing, it’s time to pay attention to your readmissions and learn more about the potential for Medicare penalties.
The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program
In 2010, the Affordable Care Act established the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), which rewards hospitals for high-quality care rather than high volume and penalizes high readmission rates.
Through the HRRP, a hospital’s Medicare payments may be reduced by up to 3% of its total Medicare reimbursement if found to have excess readmissions. This could result in millions of dollars in losses, especially for large healthcare systems.
Opportunity Costs Associated with C. Auris
Healthcare often is a zero-sum equation.
The time and resources diverted to manage a C. auris case result in diminished capability to deliver high-quality care for other patients. Every additional day of caring for a C. auris patient means one less bed available for new admissions and longer wait times in the emergency department.
The longer patients wait, the greater the opportunity cost. One study found that 91% of patients wait over three hours to be admitted to the ER, resulting in a revenue loss of $204 per patient.
Reputation Damage
This one is harder to quantify, but it may be the most important for hospitals to keep in mind.
Patients and families turn to the healthcare community in their times of need, and they put their trust in providers. Much like consumers of any product or service, they will research and choose a hospital based on its reputation.
Unfortunately, hospitals don’t get a lot of good press for keeping their HAI rates low — but the news spreads quickly when the public hears about an outbreak or consistently high HAI rates.
If your hospital becomes known for readmission and HAI cases, many patients won’t feel safe coming in for care. Add in the confusion and fear around emerging HAIs like C.auris, and this could become a crisis for your hospital’s reputation and bottom line.
The best way to protect your hospital is to create a culture of safety and build up your infection prevention protocols before C. auris makes its appearance.
Protect Your Hospital from C. Auris
Before your hospital faces losses due to C. auris, you can be proactive by shoring up your infection prevention programs.
Nevoa’s no-touch, rapid disinfection systems pack the power to eliminate C. auris before it spreads throughout your hospital. Nimbus is an autonomous HOCl fogger that is not only simple to implement but also provides advanced disinfection for every surface in the healthcare environment.
Find out more about Nevoa’s C. auris-fighting disinfection systems today, so you can be ready to face this crisis head-on.