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The Costs of Healthcare Worker Respiratory Protection and Fit-Testing Programs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Scott E. Kellerman ,
Jerome I. Tokars  and
William R. Jarvis
Scott E. Kellerman*
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Jerome I. Tokars
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
William R. Jarvis
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
*
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Mailstop E69, Atlanta, GA 30333; e-mail, sek0@cdc.gov.
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Abstract

Objective:

We studied hospital costs associated with healthcare worker (HCW) respiratory protection and respirator fit-testing programs recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to decrease nosocomial or occupational Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB).

Design:

The number and cost of high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA)-filter and dust-mist (DM) respirators for 1989 to 1994 were obtained from study hospital purchasing departments, and the costs of HCW fit-testing and education programs for 1994 were estimated from information provided by infection control practitioners. Costs of N-class respirator programs were estimated for study hospitals using retrospective cost analysis and an observational study.

Setting:

Four urban hospitals with, and one rural community hospital without, documented nosocomial or occupational transmission of multidrug-resistant TB.

Results:

During the study period, four of five hospitals introduced HEPA and DM respirators and respirator education and fit-testing programs. Median costs in 1994 were $83,900 (range, $2,000-$223,000) for respirators and $17,187 (range, $8,736-$26,175) for respiratory fit-testing programs. The projected median annual cost of N95 respirators was $62,023 (range, $270-$422,526).

Conclusions:

Compliance with CDC TB guidelines may require a substantial investment. However, outlays for respirators and education and fit-testing programs are more reasonable than would be suggested by analyses that estimated the costs of preventing one case of nosocomial TB

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 19 , Issue 9 , September 1998 , pp. 629 - 634
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1998

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