WebProNews

Grandpa always said going to the hospital could kill you. The state of Pennsylvania agrees. Over 11,000 patients came down with infections during their stay at the hospital last year. Nearly 1,800 died.

The first state to publish its own findings, officials in Pennsylvania hope the numbers will shed light on the problem and move hospitals to clean up their acts.

They also hope to encourage other states to enact legislation requiring hospitals to report infection information. As of right now only four other states, Missouri, Florida, Illinois and Virginia, have laws requiring hospitals to publicly disclose that information.

Many oppose such requirements saying that many arrive at the hospital with an infection of some sort and that specific instances are difficult to track. Supporters hope relaying the information will encourage increased cleanliness, reduced number of hospital-acquired infections and number of related deaths, and lower health costs.

The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council report stated that hospital originating infections cost Pennsylvania hospitals an extra $2 billion and added 205,000 extra in-patient days last year. The rate of infection is believed to be about 7.5 per 1000.

Applied to the rest of the country, those numbers add up to an estimated 2 million patients contracting infections while staying in hospitals and additional 90,000 deaths per year, according to the New England Journal of Medicine..

"The deaths associated with those patients and the costs associated with those patients are astounding," said Marc P. Volavka, the council's executive director. "These numbers, even on their own, stand as a clarion cry to take action."

Though legislation was considered in several states, most bills did not pass. The hospital industry has often objected to such reporting because it can't agree on how the data is collected and reported.

"Hospitals want to share good, reliable information that doesn't overstate or understate the infection problem," says Nancy Foster of the American Hospital Association.

Jason L. Miller is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.