Financial Impact of a Radiology Safety Net Program for Resolution of Clinically Necessary Follow-up Imaging Recommendations.
J Am Coll Radiol
; 21(8): 1258-1268, 2024 Aug.
Article
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| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38147905
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Health care safety net (SN) programs can potentially improve patient safety and decrease risk associated with missed or delayed follow-up care, although they require financial resources. This study aimed to assess whether the revenue generated from completion of clinically necessary recommendations for additional imaging (RAI) made possible by an IT-enabled SN program could fund the required additional labor resources.METHODS:
Clinically necessary RAI generated October 21, 2019, to September 24, 2021, were tracked to resolution as of April 13, 2023. A new radiology SN team worked with existing schedulers and care coordinators, performing chart review and patient and provider outreach to ensure RAI resolution. We applied relevant Current Procedural Terminology, version 4 codes of the completed imaging examinations to estimate total revenue. Coprimary outcomes included revenue generated by total performed examinations and estimated revenue attributed to SN involvement. We used Student's t test to compare the secondary outcome, RAI time interval, for higher versus lower revenue-generating modalities.RESULTS:
In all, 24% (3,243) of eligible follow-up recommendations (13,670) required SN involvement. Total estimated revenue generated by performed recommended examinations was $6,116,871, with $980,628 attributed to SN. Net SN-generated revenue per 1.0 full-time equivalent was an estimated $349,768. Greatest proportion of performed examinations were cross-sectional modalities (CT, MRI, PET/CT), which were higher revenue-generating than non-cross-sectional modalities (x-ray, ultrasound, mammography), and had shorter recommendation time frames (153 versus 180 days, P < .001).DISCUSSION:
The revenue generated from completion of RAI facilitated by an IT-enabled quality and safety program supplemented by an SN team can fund the required additional labor resources to improve patient safety. Realizing early revenue may require 5 to 6 months postimplementation.Palabras clave
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Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Proveedores de Redes de Seguridad
Límite:
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Am Coll Radiol
Asunto de la revista:
RADIOLOGIA
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article