Estimated reduction in expenditure on hospital-acquired pressure injuries after an intervention for early identification and treatment
Heather Lewis, David Hughes, Dominic Madell, Christin Coomarasamy, Luis Villa, Brooke Hayward
Approximately 55,000 people a year in New Zealand experience a pressure injury, and these can cause constant pain, loss of function and mobility, financial difficulties, prolonged hospital stays, septicaemia and even death, as well as depression, distress and anxiety, embarrassment and social isolation. An intervention designed to reduce numbers of hospital-acquired pressure injuries was delivered in Counties Manukau Health hospitals from 2011 to 2015. Numbers of patients with different levels of pressure injuries were estimated across hospitals in Counties Manukau Health (Counties Manukau DHB) in these years. It was found that the estimated cost of treating pressure injuries in hospital patients was NZ$12,290,484 less in 2015 than in 2011, which was attributed to the intervention. It is concluded that strategies for managing hospital-acquired pressure injuries can lead to large financial savings for hospitals, as well as reducing the burden of managing this difficult condition for patients and staff.
