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Cost of Hepatitis B Prevention in Hospital Employees: Post-Exposure Prophylaxis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Bradford Kirkman-Liff  and
Suzanne Dandoy
Bradford Kirkman-Liff*
Affiliation:
Center for Health Services Administration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
Suzanne Dandoy
Affiliation:
Center for Health Services Administration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
*
Center for Health Services Administration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
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Abstract

To determine the cost of post-exposure prevention of hepatitis B among hospital employees, a 12-month prospective study was conducted in six Phoenix-area hospitals. Data on reported employee accidents which involved exposure to blood and any subsequent medical attention were obtained weekly. Costs were assigned to all tests, treatments, and working time lost. For 518 potential hepatitis B exposures, the mean cost per incident was $92. Costs associated specifically with preventing hepatitis accounted for 80% of the costs. When data on these incidents were applied to a model procedure for handling potential exposures to hepatitis B, the costs increased to $109 per incident. One work-related case of clinical hepatitis B cost the hospital $13,376. A determination of total hospital costs for hepatitis B should include the direct and indirect cost of each employee case of the disease, the costs of routine serologic screening of employees, and the cost of post-exposure strategies.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 5 , Issue 8 , August 1984 , pp. 385 - 389
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1984

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