Physician data review to reduce cost per case and ALOS.

Abstract

268 Background: Reducing costs in health care is critical due to declining reimbursement. Physicians are often unaware of how their practices affect the cost of patient care and may have difficulty in making changes. The leadership of the Cancer Service Line believed a more targeted approach in sharing data would improve physician understanding and engagement to assist in greater standardization and cost reduction. Methods: An education and communication strategy was developed that involves the leadership of each specialty section of oncology. A dashboard was created with metrics such as clinic visits, surgical volume, cost per case, average length of stay, and net income. The data is presented in monthly, quarterly and annual time frames with trends to highlight progress and identify areas for improvement. Monthly meetings are conducted with key stakeholders to obtain critical feedback. Results: Consistent data has increased physician understanding of clinical businesses the business is doing and has prompted them to optimize clinical schedules and improve operational efficiencies. Outpatient and inpatient data regarding cost per case, ancillary costs, pharmaceutical usage, blood product utilization, and drug exchanges has driven practice changes. The ALOS is at almost an entire day below benchmarks and direct cost per case is at budgeted target. Standardization has occurred in the use of blood products and there has been an intentional shift of some interventions to the outpatient arena. Conclusions: The implementation of a robust education and communication strategy have resulted in active engagement and participation of physicians, significant practice changes in cancer care and heightened understanding of the relationship of practice to cost. A dashboard that trends relevant metrics shared at regular intervals with key providers impact the cost of cancer services without affecting the quality.