Volume 7, Number 2—April 2001
THEME ISSUE
4th Decennial International Conference on Nosocomial and Healthcare-Associated Infections
State of the Art
Engineering out the Risk of Infection with Urinary Catheters
Dennis G. Maki*
and Paul A. Tambyah†
and Paul A. Tambyah†Table 5
Cost-benefit evaluation (restricted to direct hospital costs) of the silver-hydrogel catheter
| Assumptions of analysis | |
|---|---|
| Proportion of CAUTIs diagnosed clinically | 65% |
| Cost of each diagnosed CAUTI | ~$1000a |
| Added acquisition cost of a silver-hydrogel catheter | ~$5 |
| Incremental hospital costs, per 100 catheters: | |
| Using standard urinary catheters | |
| (26 CAUTIs, 17 diagnosed) | $17,000 |
| Using silver-hydrogel catheters | |
| (15 CAUTIs, 10 diagnosed) | $10,000 |
| Added cost of catheters | $500b |
| Total costs | $10,500 |
| Potential savings per 100 catheters | $6,500 |
aBased on studies showing that a diagnosed nosocomial CAUTI adds approximately $1,000 to direct costs of hospitalization (14); CAUTI = catheter-associated urinary tract infection.
bCost of preventing a CAUTI: approximately $71.
