141st APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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286047
Calculating the cost of workplace violence in hospitals


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Lynnette Essenmacher, MPH, Occupational Health Services, Detroit Medical Center, Detroit, MI
Deanna Aranyos, Occupational Health Services, Detroit Medical Center, Detroit, MI
Mark Upfal, MD, MPH, Occupational Health Services, Detroit Medical Center, Detroit, MI
Jim Russell, Occupational Health Services, Detroit Medical Center, Detroit, MI
Mark Luborsky, PhD, Institute of Gerontology; Dept. of Neurobiology, Caring Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Joel Ager, PhD, School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Lydia Hamblin, School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Division of Occupational and Environmental Health; Department of Psychology, Industrial-Organizational, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Judith Arnetz, PhD, MPH, Department of Family Medicine & Public Health Sciences, Division of Occupational & Environmental Health; Dept. of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala Sweden, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Background and Objectives: Workplace violence is a leading occupational hazard for hospital workers worldwide. However, no studies to date have examined the direct costs incurred by workplace violence in general hospital settings. The aim of this study was to develop methodology for calculating costs resulting from violence directed towards hospital employees.

Methods: The study was conducted within a metropolitan hospital system with 7 hospitals, over 15,000 employees and a system-wide database for reporting workplace violence events. Incidents for a 30-month period were studied for their association to injury rate costs using loss time claims. Total direct costs were calculated as the total amount currently paid in addition to future cost estimates by a third party insurance administrator. Rates were compared across system hospitals and across type of work unit (e.g. Emergency, Surgery, Acute Care Nursing). Results: A total of 842 worker-to-worker and patient-to-worker violent events were reported by employees during this period, representing an overall rate of 3.50 incidents per 100 full time employees (FTEs). Based on lost time claims, the total costs for workplace violence during this period were $505,480. The overall rate of cost was $2,380 per 100 FTEs. The overall rate of cost ranged from $961 to $4,973/100 FTES across hospitals and from $34 to $43,075/100 FTEs across type of work unit.

Conclusions: Cost information may offer additional indications of where to focus intervention activities when examined with workplace violence rates. Injury and lost time data make it possible to calculate direct costs of workplace violence.

Learning Areas:

Occupational health and safety
Provision of health care to the public

Learning Objectives:
Formulate methodology for calculating costs resulting from violence directed towards hospital employees. Identify typical hospital work environments at increased risk for the more severe and costly violent events.

Keyword(s): Workplace Safety, Cost Issues

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been involved with data management and data analysis for over 20 years and am currently a Senior Data Analyst with this project.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 2071.0: Poster Session: Occupational Disease and Injury Epidemiology