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Use of Medicare Diagnosis and Procedure Codes to Improve Detection of Surgical Site Infections following Hip Arthroplasty, Knee Arthroplasty, and Vascular Surgery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Michael S. Calderwood ,
Allen Ma ,
Yosef M. Khan ,
Margaret A. Olsen ,
Dale W. Bratzler ,
Deborah S. Yokoe ,
David C. Hooper ,
Kurt Stevenson ,
Victoria J. Fraser  and
Richard Platt
...Show all authors
Michael S. Calderwood*
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
Allen Ma
Affiliation:
Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Yosef M. Khan
Affiliation:
Ohio State University Medical Center and College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio
Margaret A. Olsen
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
Dale W. Bratzler
Affiliation:
Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Deborah S. Yokoe
Affiliation:
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
David C. Hooper
Affiliation:
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Kurt Stevenson
Affiliation:
Ohio State University Medical Center and College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio
Victoria J. Fraser
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
Richard Platt
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
Susan S. Huang
Affiliation:
University of California Irvine School of Medicine, Irvine, California
*
Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Institute, 133 Brookline Avenue, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02115 ([email protected])
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Abstract

Objective.

To evaluate the use of routinely collected electronic health data in Medicare claims to identify surgical site infections (SSIs) following hip arthroplasty, knee arthroplasty, and vascular surgery.

Design.

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting.

Four academic hospitals that perform prospective SSI surveillance.

Methods.

We developed lists of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, and Current Procedural Terminology diagnosis and procedure codes to identify potential SSIs. We then screened for these codes in Medicare claims submitted by each hospital on patients older than 65 years of age who had undergone 1 of the study procedures during 2007. Each site reviewed medical records of patients identified by either claims codes or traditional infection control surveillance to confirm SSI using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/ National Healthcare Safety Network criteria. We assessed the performance of both methods against all chart-confirmed SSIs identified by either method.

Results.

Claims-based surveillance detected 1.8–4.7-fold more SSIs than traditional surveillance, including detection of all previously identified cases. For hip and vascular surgery, there was a 5-fold and 1.6-fold increase in detection of deep and organ/space infections, respectively, with no increased detection of deep and organ/space infections following knee surgery. Use of claims to trigger chart review led to confirmation of SSI in 1 out of 3 charts for hip arthroplasty, 1 out of 5 charts for knee arthroplasty, and 1 out of 2 charts for vascular surgery.

Conclusion.

Claims-based SSI surveillance markedly increased the number of SSIs detected following hip arthroplasty, knee arthroplasty, and vascular surgery. It deserves consideration as a more effective approach to target chart reviews for identifying SSIs.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2012;33(1):40-49

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 33 , Issue 1 , January 2012 , pp. 40 - 49
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2012

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