First Name:
John
Last Name:
LaBruyere
Major Department:
Business-Healthcare Management
Thesis Director:
Susan RoggenKamp
Date of Thesis:
Dec 2008
The purpose of this study is to examine the financial and clinical outcomes of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on adult patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). A retrospective analysis of the Carolinas Medical Center database was conducted over a 30-month period (January 2006 — June 2008) to identify patients with VAP. The study sample included patients with VAP as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with an S. aureus pathogen. Clinical outcome measures included inpatient length of stay and patient mortality; financial outcome is measured by inpatient costs. Control variables are used to control for patient demographics and clinical variability (age, race, gender, financial class, ICU location, total pathogens). A total of 61 patients were identified as having S. aureus (16 were methicillin-resistant S. aureus; 45 were methicillin-susceptible S. aureus). Patients diagnosed with MRSA-related VAP are the study group and MSSA-related VAP patients are the control group. The results showed average length of stay for MRSA patients was 4.9 days longer than MSSA, average inpatient costs for MRSA patients were $45,697 higher than MSSA, and mortality rates for MRSA patients were 7% higher than MSSA patients. These results were not significant though and therefore could not support the study hypotheses.