Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-dwq4g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-28T00:09:10.805Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Second Look at the Cost of Mandatory Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis B Virus Testing for Healthcare Workers Performing Invasive Procedures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Gerard Russo
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii
Sumner J. La Croix*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii
*
Department of Economics, 2424 Maile Way, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822

Extract

Recently in this journal, Dr. Julie Gerberding analyzed the financial cost to a hospital of testing healthcare workers for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) and restricting the employment of healthcare workers infected with these viruses.’ Dr. Gerberding calculated that a 350-bed university-affiliated public teaching hospital in San Francisco, California, would incur an annual cost of $433,875 to test healthcare workers performing invasive procedures and a cost of $402,125 to replace and retrain HIV-infected healthcare workers. On the basis of these estimates, she concluded that “the total cost of implementing [such] a testing program...for all healthcare workers is staggering” and that other methods of reducing the risk of HIV transmission from healthcare workers to patients should be considered more carefully.

Type
AIDS
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Gerberding, JL. Expected costs of implementing a mandatory human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus testing and restriction program for healthcare workers performing invasive procedures. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 1991;12:443447.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2. Samuelson, PA, Nordhaus, WD. Economics. New York, NY: McGraw Hill; 1989.Google Scholar
3. Glied, S, Bloom, DE. Benefits and costs of HIV testing. Science. 1991;252:17981804.Google Scholar
4. Centers for Disease Control. Draft: estimates of the risk endemic transmission of hepatitis B virus and human immunodeficiency virus to patients by the percutaneous route during invasive surgical and dental procedures. Presented at the Open Meeting on the Risks of Transmission of Bloodbome Pathogens to Patients During Invasive Procedures. February 21-22, 1991. Atlanta, Ga.Google Scholar
5. Smith, R. Compensating differentials and public policy: a review. Industrial Labor Relations Review. 1979;32:339352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Garen, J. Compensating wage differentials and the endogeneity of job riskiness. Review of Economics and Statistics. 1988;70:916.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7. Biddle, JE, Zarkin, GA. Worker preference and market compensation for job risk. Review of Economics and Statistics. 1988;70:660667.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Miller, TR The plausible range for the value of lie-red herrings among the mackerel. Journal of Forensic Economics. 1990;3:1737.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Moore, MJ, Viscusi, WK. The quantity-adjusted value of life. Economic Inquiry 1988;26:369388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10. Moore, MJ, Viscusi, WK. Doubling the estimated value of life: results using new occupational fatality data. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 1988;7:476940.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Viscusi, WK. Fatal Tradeoffs: Public and Private Responsibilities for Risk. New York, NY:Oxford University Press; in press.Google Scholar
12. Moore, MJ, Viscusi, WK. Compensation Mechanisms for Job Risks: Wages, Workers' Compensation, and Product Liability. 1990.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13. Lowenfels, AB, Wormser, G. Risk of transmission of HIV from surgeon to patient. N Engl J Med. 1991;325:888889.Google ScholarPubMed
14. St Louis, ME, Rauch, KJ, Peterson, LR, et al. Seroprevalence rates of human immunodeficiency virus infection at sentinel hospitals in the United States. N Engl J Med. 1990;323:213218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15. Bacchetti, P, Moss, AR. Incubation period of AIDS in San Francisco. Nature. 1989;338:251253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16. Hellinger, F. Updated forecasts of the costs of medical care for persons with AIDS, 1989-93. Public Health Reports. 1990;105:112.Google Scholar