Annually, the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports nearly 99,000 deaths per year resulting from health-care associated infections (HAIs).
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), it is estimated that of the more than 290,000 incidences of surgical site infection (SSI) annually, more than 13,000 people die each year due to infections acquired during surgical procedures.
In addition to quality of care implications, according to the HHS Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare Associated Infections, the added health-care costs of treating SSIs are no longer reimbursed for Medicare patients, placing the financial burden on hospitals. On average, the cost to hospitals per SSI is $25,546. In aggregate, this amounts to $7.4 billion in additional health-care costs every year…
