Surgical site infections (SSI) are the leading and most expensive cause of hospital-acquired infections, increasing the cost of an encounter by greater than $20,000. High-definition surgical care presents an opportunity to markedly reduce these costly infections. Our SSI module provides real-time decision support in the operating room which allows surgeons to change the wound management strategy based upon objective risk-stratification data personalized to the patient on the operating room table. Use of this system at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics reduced SSI in the target population by 58-74%. This system is not static, but constantly re-calibrating to changes in patient populations, surgical selection criteria, the procedures being performed, and the hospital environment. Active use of the SSI module would be expected to drive down direct costs of care and readmissions while improving patient satisfaction. Downstream effects could include improved reimbursement through cost containment programs such as CMS Pay-For-Performance.
