“The National Surgery Quality Improvement Project” (NSQIP): a new tool to increase patient safety and cost efficiency in a surgical intensive care unit

Abstract

Given an estimated annual volume of 20,000 cases per year with a cost of $22,097 per episode of pneumonia and $27,654 per episode of prolonged intubation greater than 48 hours; a projected 32 avoided episodes of pneumonia and 160 avoided episodes of V48 could be realized with potential savings exceeding $5,000,000.