The Massachusetts Hospital Association (MHA) previously contracted with Abt Associates to analyze recent longitudinal trends in pressure ulcer rates in 70 acute care and 10 specialty care hospitals. In the previous report, the authors found that the average acute care hospital pressure ulcer prevalence rate dropped nearly 36 percent over the period, from 3.15 percent in 2007 to 2.04 percent in 2009, when looking at a weighted average that accounted for hospital size. The average specialty hospital pressure ulcer prevalence rate dropped 44 percent over the period, from 3.43 percent in 2007 to 1.92 percent in 2009 when looking at a weighted average that accounted for hospital size.

This report extends that analysis by estimating cost reductions related to these declines in pressure ulcer rates. To obtain the cost reduction estimates, the researchers combined the prior estimates of pressure ulcer rate reductions in MHA hospitals with cost estimates derived from peer-reviewed articles and other published reports from industry providing estimates of pressure ulcer costs in hospital settings.