The tripartite insurance model (TIM): a financial incentive to prevent outbreaks of infections due to multidrug-resistant microorganisms in hospitals

Simon van der Pol; Jan-Willem H Dik; Corinna Glasner; Maarten J Postma; Bhanu Sinha; Alex W Friedrich

doi:10.1016/j.cmi.2021.01.019

The tripartite insurance model (TIM): a financial incentive to prevent outbreaks of infections due to multidrug-resistant microorganisms in hospitals

Clin Microbiol Infect. 2021 Jan 30:S1198-743X(21)00046-X. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2021.01.019. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Simon van der Pol¹, Jan-Willem H Dik², Corinna Glasner³, Maarten J Postma⁴, Bhanu Sinha³, Alex W Friedrich³

Affiliations

¹ University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Department of Health Sciences, Groningen, the Netherlands. Electronic address: [email protected].
² University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Control, Groningen, the Netherlands; National Health Care Institute, Diemen, the Netherlands.
³ University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Control, Groningen, the Netherlands.
⁴ University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Department of Health Sciences, Groningen, the Netherlands; University of Groningen, Department of Economics, Econometrics and Finance, Groningen, the Netherlands.

PMID: 33524590
DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2021.01.019

Abstract

Healthcare-associated infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) constitute a major challenge worldwide, but care providers are often not sufficiently incentivized to implement recommended infection prevention measures to prevent the spread of such infections. We propose a new approach which creates incentives for hospitals, external laboratories and insurers to collaborate on preventing MDRO outbreaks by testing more and implementing infection prevention measures. This tripartite insurance model (TIM) redistributes the costs of preventing and combating MDRO outbreaks in a way that all parties benefit from reducing the number of outbreaks.

Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance; Diagnostics; Financial incentives; Insurance model; Multidrug-resistant organism outbreaks.