CDC Study Shows National Healthcare Costs from AR Infections Exceed $4.6 Billion
CDC and the University of Utah announce the publication, National Estimates of Healthcare Costs Associated With Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Infections Among Hospitalized Patients in the United States, which estimates that the national healthcare costs associated with hospital- and community-onset infections from six multidrug-resistant pathogens is more than $4.6 billion annually. The paper highlights issues that align with data and threats in CDC’s 2019 Antibiotic Resistance (AR) Threats Report. This includes the concern over increasing resistant infections in the community and how they can put more people at risk, make spread more difficult to identify and contain, and threaten the progress made in healthcare to protect patients.
As one of the largest, domestic studies conducted on this topic, the researchers took steps to produce more reliable estimates of how AR impacts healthcare costs. These cost estimates are critical to help the U.S. government and others better understand the investments needed by hospitals to fund activities to prevent AR infections, their associated healthcare costs, and the economic benefits of a prevention-first approach. CDC has shown that dedicated prevention efforts in the U.S. are working, but the number of people facing infections and the high economic burden of disease show that more action is needed.
CDC continues to invest in studies like these to help protect people in U.S. and abroad through its AR Solutions Initiative, investing more than $160 million in innovation projects with 100+ institutions across One Health since 2016. Learn more about how CDC is working with institutions in your state and around the world using the AR Investment Map.