Surgical site infection surveillance in Australian public and private hospitals: a comparative analysis

In addition to patient and procedure characteristics, hospital sector is an important consideration when interpreting SSI data. For the studied procedures, although SSI outcomes were largely comparable across public and private sectors, public hospitals performed more emergency procedures and had a higher proportion of patients classified as high risk. Further studies comparing public and private hospitals should consider additional patient factors, including comorbidities, to better identify risks and inform prevention activities.