Impact of Cost Display on Ordering Patterns for Hospital Laboratory and Imaging Services.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Physicians "purchase" many health care services on behalf of patients yet remain largely unaware of the costs of these services. Electronic health record (EHR) cost displays may facilitate cost-conscious ordering of health services. OBJECTIVE:To determine whether displaying hospital lab and imaging order costs is associated with changes in the number and costs of orders placed. DESIGN:Quasi-experimental study. PARTICIPANTS:All patients with inpatient or observation encounters across a multi-site health system from April 2013 to October 2015. INTERVENTION:Display of order costs, based on Medicare fee schedules, in the EHR for 1032 lab tests and 1329 imaging tests. MAIN MEASURES:Outcomes for both lab and imaging orders were (1) whether an order was placed during a hospital encount

SUBMITTER: Silvestri MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6082197 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature