Complex Surgical Site Infections and the Devilish Details of Risk Adjustment: Important Implications for Public Reporting

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 941-946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deverick J. Anderson ◽  
Luke F. Chen ◽  
Daniel J. Sexton ◽  
Keith S. Kaye
Keyword(s):  
Hip Prosthesis ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Risk Index ◽  
Surgical Site Infections ◽  
Abdominal Hysterectomy ◽  
Index Score ◽  
Case Mix ◽  
Infection Surveillance ◽  
Reporting Rates ◽  
Risk Index Score

Objective.To validate the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (NNIS) risk index as a tool to account for differences in case mix when reporting rates of complex surgical site infection (SSI).Design.Prospective cohort study.Setting.Twenty-four community hospitals in the southeastern United States.Methods.We identified surgical procedures performed between January 1, 2005, and June 30, 2007. The Goodman-Kruskal gamma or G statistic was used to determine the correlation between the NNIS risk index score and the rates of complex SSI (not including superficial incisional SSI). Procedure-specific analyses were performed for SSI after abdominal hysterectomy, cardiothoracic procedures, colon procedures, insertion of a hip prosthesis, insertion of a knee prosthesis, and vascular procedures.Results.A total of 2,257 SSIs were identified during the study period (overall rate, 1.19 SSIs per 100 procedures), of which 1,093 (48.4%) were complex (0.58 complex SSIs per 100 procedures). There were 45 complex SSIs identified following 7,032 abdominal hysterectomies (rate, 0.64 SSIs per 100 procedures); 63 following 5,318 cardiothoracic procedures (1.18 SSIs per 100 procedures); 139 following 5,144 colon procedures (2.70 SSIs per 100 procedures); 63 following 6,639 hip prosthesis insertions (0.94 SSIs per 100 procedures); 73 following 9,658 knee prosthesis insertions (0.76 SSIs per 100 procedures); and 55 following 6,575 vascular procedures (0.84 SSIs per 100 procedures). All 6 procedure-specific rates of complex SSI were significantly correlated with increasing NNIS risk index score (P< .05).Conclusions.Some experts recommend reporting rates of complex SSI to overcome the widely acknowledged detection bias associated with superficial incisional infection. Furthermore, it is necessary to compensate for case-mix differences in patient populations, to ensure that intrahospital comparisons are meaningful. Our results indicate that the NNIS risk index is a reasonable method for the risk stratification of complex SSIs for several commonly performed procedures.

scholarly journals Administrative Coding Methods Impact Surgical Site Infection Rates

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s111-s112
Author(s):  
Mohammed Alsuhaibani ◽  
Mohammed Alzunitan ◽  
Kyle Jenn ◽  
Daniel Diekema ◽  
Michael Edmond ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cesarean Section ◽  
Surgical Procedures ◽  
Hip Prosthesis ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Surgical Site Infections ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Abdominal Hysterectomy ◽  
Absolute Difference ◽  
Coding Method ◽  
The Impact

Background: Surveillance for surgical site infections (SSI) is recommended by the CDC. Currently, colon and abdominal hysterectomy SSI rates are publicly available and impact hospital reimbursement. However, the CDC NHSN allows surgical procedures to be abstracted based on International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) or current procedural terminology (CPT) codes. We assessed the impact of using ICD and/or CPT codes on the number of cases abstracted and SSI rates. Methods: We retrieved administrative codes (ICD and/or CPT) for procedures performed at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics over 1 year: October 2018–September 2019. We included 10 procedure types: colon, hysterectomy, cesarean section, breast, cardiac, craniotomy, spinal fusion, laminectomy, hip prosthesis, and knee prosthesis surgeries. We then calculated the number of procedures that would be abstracted if we used different permutations in administration codes: (1) ICD codes only, (2) CPT codes only, (3) both ICD and CPT codes, and (4) at least 1 code from either ICD or CPT. We then calculated the impact on SSI rates based on any of the 4 coding permutations. Results: In total, 9,583 surgical procedures and 180 SSIs were detected during the study period using the fourth method (ICD or CPT codes). Denominators varied according to procedure type and coding method used. The number of procedures abstracted for breast surgery had a >10-fold difference if reported based on ICD only versus ICD or CPT codes (104 vs 1,109). Hip prosthesis had the lowest variation (638 vs 767). For SSI rates, cesarean section showed almost a 3-fold increment (2.6% when using ICD only to 7.32% with both ICD & CPT), whereas abdominal hysterectomy showed nearly a 2-fold increase (1.14% when using CPT only to 2.22% with both ICD & CPT codes). However, SSI rates remained fairly similar for craniotomy (0.14% absolute difference), hip prosthesis (0.24% absolute difference), and colon (0.09% absolute difference) despite differences in the number of abstracted procedures and coding methods. Conclusions: Denominators and SSI rates vary depending on the coding method used. Variations in the number of procedures abstracted and their subsequent impact on SSI rates were not predictable. Variations in coding methods used by hospitals could impact interhospital comparisons and benchmarking, potentially leading to disparities in public reporting and hospital penalties.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

Does the Centers for Disease Control’s NNIS System Risk Index Stratify Patients Undergoing Cardiothoracic Operations by Their Risk of Surgical-Site Infection?

2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 186-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Claude Roy ◽  
Loreen A. Herwaldt ◽  
Richard Embrey ◽  
Kristen Kuhns ◽  
Richard P. Wenzel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Index ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Surgical Site Infections ◽  
Index Score ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
University Of Iowa ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
System Risk ◽  
The University ◽  
Risk Index Score

AbstractBackground:In 1991, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention devised the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (NNIS) System risk index to stratify populations of surgical patients by the risk of acquiring surgical-site infections (SSIs).Objective:To determine whether the NNIS risk index adequately stratifies a population of cardiothoracic surgery patients by the risk of developing SSI.Design:Casecontrol study.Setting:The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, a 900-bed, midwestern, tertiary-care hospital.Patients:201 patients with SSIs identified by prospective infection control surveillance and 398 controls matched by age, gender, type of procedure, and date of procedure. All patients underwent cardiothoracic operative procedures between November 1990 and January 1994.Results:The SSI rate was 7.8%. Seventy-four percent of cases and 80% of controls had a NNIS risk index score of 1; 24% of cases and 16% of controls had a score of 2 (P=.05). Patients with a NNIS risk score ≥2 were 1.8 times more likely to develop an SSI than those with a NNIS score <2 (odds ratio, 1.83; 95% confidence interval, 1.14-2.94,P=.01). The duration of the procedure was the only component of the index that stratified the population by risk of SSI.Conclusions:The risk of SSI after cardiothoracic operations increases as the NNIS risk index score increases. However, this index only dichotomized the patient population on the basis of the procedure duration. More research is needed to develop a risk index that adequately stratifies the risk of SSI after cardiothoracic operations.

scholarly journals Making a Case for Adjusting NHSN SSI Risk Stratification Classification for Use of Enhanced Electronic Infection Surveillance

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s18-s18
Author(s):  
Meri Pearson ◽  
Krista Doline
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare System ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Hip Prosthesis ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Surgical Site Infections ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Electronic Surveillance ◽  
Healthcare Associated Infection ◽  
Infection Surveillance

Background: A large healthcare system in Georgia went live with an enhanced electronic infection surveillance system in August of 2018. The system was employed at its facilities using a staggered approach. Prior to the implementation of this infection surveillance platform, the healthcare system performed healthcare-associated infection (HAI) surveillance using an in-house culture-based system. The NHSN estimates that culture-based surveillance misses 50%–60% of true surgical site infections (SSIs). Due to the lack of clinical-based detection methods (eg, radiologic imaging), we were unable to appropriately detect all patient harm using the old surveillance system. Method: A retrospective analysis was performed to assess the change in HAI for colon (COLO), abdominal hysterectomy (HYST), hip prosthesis (HPRO), and knee prosthesis (KPRO). SSI cases that met NHSN surveillance criteria were reviewed to determine whether they would have been identified prior to launching the new enhanced electronic surveillance system. Results: Systemwide, 8 of 26 COLO SSIs (31%) and 9 of 18 HYST SSIs (50%) would have not been detected using our old surveillance system. HPRO SSIs and KPRO SSIs identified by our new surveillance system were detected using our old surveillance system, and no change was observed. Conclusion: This analysis showed an increase in COLO SSIs and HYST SSIs from enhanced surveillance. Electronic surveillance systems are not considered as a risk factor in the NHSN annual facility survey that aids in calculating a facility’s standardized infection ratio (SIR). These data help support NHSN consideration of modifying the logistic regression calculation used for the complex SSI models. This revision would allow facilities to compare themselves equitably to those using electronic infection surveillance.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

The Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer Risk Index: A Multinational Scoring System for Identifying Low-Risk Febrile Neutropenic Cancer Patients

2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 3038-3051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Klastersky ◽  
Marianne Paesmans ◽  
Edward B. Rubenstein ◽  
Michael Boyer ◽  
Linda Elting ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Risk ◽  
Supportive Care ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Scoring System ◽  
Burden Of Illness ◽  
Risk Index ◽  
Index Score ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
Validation Set ◽  
Risk Index Score

PURPOSE: Febrile neutropenia remains a potentially life-threatening complication of anticancer chemotherapy, but some patients are at low risk for serious medical complications. The purpose of this study was to develop an internationally validated scoring system to identify these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Febrile neutropenic cancer patients were observed in a prospective multinational study. Independent factors assessable at fever onset, predicting low risk of complications, on a randomly selected derivation set, were assigned integer weights to develop a risk-index score, which was subsequently tested on a validation set. RESULTS: On the derivation set (756 patients), predictive factors were a burden of illness indicating absence of symptoms or mild symptoms (weight, 5; odds ratio [OR], 8.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.15 to 16.38) or moderate symptoms (weight, 3; OR, 3.70; 95% CI, 2.18 to 6.29); absence of hypotension (weight, 5; OR, 7.62; 95% CI, 2.91 to 19.89); absence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (weight, 4; OR, 5.35; 95% CI, 1.86 to 15.46); presence of solid tumor or absence of previous fungal infection in patients with hematologic malignancies (weight, 4; OR, 5.07; 95% CI, 1.97 to 12.95); outpatient status (weight, 3; OR, 3.51; 95% CI, 2.02 to 6.04); absence of dehydration (weight, 3; OR, 3.81; 95% CI, 1.89 to 7.73); and age less than 60 years (weight, 2; OR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.51 to 4.01). On the validation set, a Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer risk-index score ≥ 21 identified low-risk patients with a positive predictive value of 91%, specificity of 68%, and sensitivity of 71%. CONCLUSION: The risk index accurately identifies patients at low risk for complications and may be used to select patients for testing therapeutic strategies that may be more convenient or cost-effective.

Surgical Site Infections, International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) Report, Data Summary of 30 Countries, 2005–2010

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 597-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor D. Rosenthal ◽  
Rosana Richtmann ◽  
Sanjeev Singh ◽  
Anucha Apisarnthanarak ◽  
Andrzej Kübler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nosocomial Infection ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Hip Prosthesis ◽  
Coronary Bypass ◽  
Surgical Site Infections ◽  
Abdominal Hysterectomy ◽  
International Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Surveillance Study ◽  
Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Control And Prevention

Objective.To report the results of a surveillance study on surgical site infections (SSIs) conducted by the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC).Design.Cohort prospective multinational multicenter surveillance study.Setting.Eighty-two hospitals of 66 cities in 30 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Greece, India, Kosovo, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, and Vietnam) from 4 continents (America, Asia, Africa, and Europe).Patients.Patients undergoing surgical procedures (SPs) from January 2005 to December 2010.Methods.Data were gathered and recorded from patients hospitalized in INICC member hospitals by using the methods and definitions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network (CDC-NHSN) for SSI. SPs were classified into 31 types according toInternational Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, criteria.Results.We gathered data from 7,523 SSIs associated with 260,973 SPs. SSI rates were significantly higher for most SPs in INICC hospitals compared with CDC-NHSN data, including the rates of SSI after hip prosthesis (2.6% vs 1.3%; relative risk [RR], 2.06 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.8–2.4];P<.001), coronary bypass with chest and donor incision (4.5% vs 2.9%; RR, 1.52 [95% CI, 1.4–1.6];P<.001); abdominal hysterectomy (2.7% vs 1.6%; RR, 1.66 [95% CI, 1.4–2.0];P<.001); exploratory abdominal surgery (4.1 % vs 2.0%; RR, 2.05 [95% CI, 1.6–2.6];P<.001); ventricular shunt, 12.9% vs 5.6% (RR, 2.3 [95% CI, 1.9–2.6];P<.001), and others.Conclusions.SSI rates were higher for most SPs in INICC hospitals compared with CDC-NHSN data.

scholarly journals Healthcare resources attributable to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus orthopedic surgical site infections

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haruhisa Fukuda ◽  
Daisuke Sato ◽  
Tetsuya Iwamoto ◽  
Koji Yamada ◽  
Kazuhiko Matsushita
Keyword(s):  
Staphylococcus Aureus ◽  
Hip Prosthesis ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Surgical Site Infections ◽  
Healthcare Resource Utilization ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Healthcare Resources ◽  
Methicillin Resistant ◽  
Japanese Residents ◽  
Almost All

Abstract The number of orthopedic surgeries is increasing as populations steadily age, but surgical site infection (SSI) rates remain relatively consistent. This study aimed to quantify the healthcare resources attributable to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) SSIs in orthopedic surgical patients. The analysis was conducted using a national claims database comprising data from almost all Japanese residents. We examined patients who underwent any of the following surgeries between April 2012 and March 2018: amputation (AMP), spinal fusion (FUSN), open reduction of fracture (FX), hip prosthesis (HPRO), knee prosthesis (KPRO), and laminectomy (LAM). Propensity score matching was performed to identify non-SSI control patients, and generalized estimating equations were used to estimate the differences in outcomes between the case and control groups. The numbers of MRSA SSI cases (infection rates) ranged from 64 (0.03%) to 1,152 (2.33%). MRSA SSI-attributable increases in healthcare expenditure ranged from $11,630 ($21,151 vs. $9,521) for LAM to $35,693 ($50,122 vs. $14,429) for FX, and increases in hospital stay ranged from 40.6 days (59.2 vs. 18.6) for LAM to 89.5 days (122.0 vs. 32.5) for FX. In conclusion, MRSA SSIs contribute to substantial increases in healthcare resource utilization, emphasizing the need to implement effective infection prevention measures for orthopedic surgeries.

scholarly journals Impact of Postdischarge Surveillance on Surgical Site Infection Rates for Several Surgical Procedures Results From the Nosocomial Surveillance Network in The Netherlands

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (08) ◽  
pp. 809-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Manniën ◽  
Jan C. Wille ◽  
Ruud L. M. M. Snoeren ◽  
Susan van den Hof
Keyword(s):  
Medical Record ◽  
Surgical Procedures ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Surgical Site Infections ◽  
Abdominal Hysterectomy ◽  
Surveillance Network ◽  
Femorotibial Bypass ◽  
Registration Card

Objective. To compare the number of surgical site infections (SSIs) registered after hospital discharge with respect to various surgical procedures and to identify the procedures for which postdischarge surveillance (PDS) is most important. Design. Prospective SSI surveillance with voluntary PDS. Recommended methods for PDS in the Dutch national nosocomial surveillance network are addition of a special registration card to the outpatient medical record, on which the surgeon notes clinical symptoms and whether a patient developed an SSI according to the definitions; an alternative method is examination of the outpatient medical record. Setting. Hospitals participating in the Dutch national nosocomial surveillance network between 1996 and 2004. Results. We collected data on 131,798 surgical procedures performed in 64 of the 98 Dutch hospitals. PDS was performed according to one of the recommended methods for 31,134 operations (24%) and according to another active method for 32,589 operations (25%), and passive PDS was performed for 68,075 operations (52%). Relatively more SSIs were recorded after discharge for cases in which PDS was performed according to a recommended method (43%), compared with cases in which another active PDS method was used (30%) and cases in which passive PDS was used (25%). The highest rate of SSI after discharge was found for appendectomy (79% of operations), followed by knee prosthesis surgery (64%), mastectomy (61%), femoropopliteal or femorotibial bypass (53%), and abdominal hysterectomy (53%). Conclusions. For certain surgical procedures, most SSIs develop after discharge. SSI rates will be underestimated if no PDS is performed. We believe we have found a feasible and sensitive method for PDS that, if patients routinely return to the hospital for a postdischarge follow-up visit, might be suitable for use internationally.

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