The costs and benefits of pressure injury point prevalence auditing

Abstract

Pressure injuries remain a focus for patient safety and quality initiatives, particularly in acute care settings. This focus has been facilitated by the generation of data on pressure injury point prevalence which began publication in Australia in 2003. Since then, many healthcare organisations have undertaken serial pressure injury point prevalence audits (PIPPA) as part of a comprehensive program to measure and address pressure injuries. In our local health district, there has been a commitment to an annual PIPPA, but recently we sought to determine if we had reached a tipping point where the relative benefits of collecting this snapshot data may no longer justify the costs, particularly given the economic environment in the Australian healthcare system. The annual cost of conducting a district-wide PIPPA was calculated, and this is discussed alongside both non-financial costs and organisational and auditor benefits.