Tap Water Scalds Still a Serious & Costly Burden

Tap water scald burns cause a high number of costly healthcare visits in the United States, according to
a study published in Injury Prevention. Wendy Shields, PhD, MPH, and colleagues used the 2016-2018 National
Inpatient Sample and Nationwide Emergency Department Sample from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project
to identify 52,088 ED visits, 7,270 hospitalizations, and 110 deaths directly attributable to tap water
scald burns. The average cost for each encounter was $572 per ED visit and $28,431 per hospitalization.
Overall, the direct healthcare cost of these initial encounters was $206.69 million for inpatient visits
and $29.79 million for ED visits, of which Medicare paid $109.54 million and Medicaid paid $18.3 million.
In 35.4% of inpatient visits and 16.1% of ED visits, multiple body surfaces were involved. “Tap water
scalds remain a serious and costly public health burden despite the utilization of educational efforts,
voluntary industry actions, warning language requirements,and preset thermostats on water heaters,” the
study authors wrote. “Ensuring the installation of thermostatic mixing valves during installation of new
water heaters is a practical, cost-effective strategy to eliminate tap water scald burns.”