Table 4.
Estimated differences in costs ($A) and patient deaths from current practice versus WGS surveillance
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Current practice | |||||
| Total number of patients expected to have MRO infections/colonisation | 97 539 | 92 809 | 88 079 | 83 349 | 78 619 |
| Cost of microbiology screening | $8 028 283 | $7 638 967 | $7 249 651 | $6 860 335 | $6 471 019 |
| Cost of cleaning and nursing time | $11 911 230 | $11 333 618 | $10 756 006 | $10 178 394 | $9 600 782 |
| Cost of extra length of stay | $44 793 430 | $45 297 162 | $45 800 893 | $46 304 625 | $46 808 356 |
| Cost of PPE | $91 162 386 | $87 836 074 | $84 509 762 | $81 183 450 | $77 857 139 |
| Cost of antibiotic treatment of patients | $14 952 034 | $14 152 425 | $13 352 816 | $12 553 207 | $11 753 598 |
| Total cost: current practice | $170 847 364 | $166 258 246 | $161 669 129 | $157 080 012 | $152 490 895 |
| Expected number of patient deaths | 2032 | 1982 | 1932 | 1881 | 1831 |
| WGS surveillance | |||||
| Total number of potentially avoided infections with WGS (patients) | 2085 | 2003 | 1921 | 1839 | 1757 |
| Total number of potentially avoided colonisations with WGS (patients) | 34 641 | 32 287 | 29 934 | 27 580 | 25 227 |
| Total number of potentially avoided infected/colonised with WGS | 36 726 | 34 290 | 31 855 | 29 419 | 26 984 |
| Cost of WGS | $26 575 746 | $25 573 072 | $24 570 397 | $23 567 723 | $22 565 049 |
| Cost of cleaning and nursing time | $7 426 340 | $7 146 152 | $6 865 964 | $6 585 777 | $6 305 589 |
| Cost of extra length of stay | $36 149 780 | $36 881 764 | $37 613 748 | $38 345 732 | $39 077 716 |
| Cost of PPE | $60 703 607 | $59 267 592 | $57 831 577 | $56 395 563 | $54 959 548 |
| Cost of treating infected patients | $9 123 437 | $8 713 828 | $8 304 219 | $7 894 610 | $7 485 001 |
| Total cost: WGS surveillance | $139 978 910 | $137 582 408 | $135 185 906 | $132 789 404 | $130 392 902 |
| Expected number of patient deaths | 1382 | 1369 | 1356 | 1342 | 1329 |
| Cost savings with WGS surveillance | $30 868 454 | $28 675 839 | $26 483 223 | $24 290 608 | $22 097 992 |
| Patient deaths avoided | 650 | 613 | 576 | 539 | 502 |
| Costs saved per avoided infection | −$14 805 | −$14 317 | −$13 787 | −$13 210 | −$12 579 |
| Costs saved per avoided colonisation | −$891 | −$888 | −$885 | −$881 | −$876 |
MRO, multidrug-resistant organism; PPE, personal protective equipment; WGS, whole-genome sequencing.