Your browser doesn't support javascript.
loading
Consolidation of pathology services in England: have savings been achieved?
Satta, Giovanni; Edmonstone, John.
Afiliación
  • Satta G; Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK. Giovanni.satta@nhs.net.
  • Edmonstone J; School of Public Policy & Professional Practice, University of Keele, Ripon, UK.
BMC Health Serv Res ; 18(1): 862, 2018 Nov 15.
Article en En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30442126
BACKGROUND: During the last decade, pathology services in England have undergone profound changes with an extensive consolidation of laboratories. This has been driven by some national reviews forecasting a national reduction of costs by £250-£500 million ($315-$630 million) a year as a result. The main aim of this paper is to describe the financial impact of such consolidation, with a specific focus on the forecasted savings. A secondary aim is to describe the development of private sector involvement in laboratory services in a traditionally publicly funded healthcare system and the development of pathology staff size. METHODS: In the English scenario, the majority of hospitals and laboratories are publicly funded and a survey was sent as Freedom of Information request to all directors of pathology. A descriptive comparison of savings among consolidated and non-consolidated pathology services was made by using the pathology budgets in two different periods (2015 versus 2010), adjusted by inflation and increased activity. RESULTS: The hub-and-spoke model has been implemented as part of the consolidation process of pathology services in England. Consolidated pathology networks have achieved higher savings compared to non-consolidated single laboratories. There has been an increased role of private providers and savings were achieved with negligible personnel redundancies. CONCLUSIONS: Consolidated units have on average achieved larger cost savings than non-consolidated units but further analysis with stronger research design is required to independently evaluate the impact of pathology consolidation on both savings and quality.
Asunto(s)
Palabras clave

Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Banco de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Patología Clínica / Laboratorios Tipo de estudio: Health_economic_evaluation Límite: Humans País/Región como asunto: Europa Idioma: En Revista: BMC Health Serv Res Asunto de la revista: PESQUISA EM SERVICOS DE SAUDE Año: 2018 Tipo del documento: Article

Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Banco de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Patología Clínica / Laboratorios Tipo de estudio: Health_economic_evaluation Límite: Humans País/Región como asunto: Europa Idioma: En Revista: BMC Health Serv Res Asunto de la revista: PESQUISA EM SERVICOS DE SAUDE Año: 2018 Tipo del documento: Article