Can academic radiology departments become more efficient and cost less?

Autor: Seltzer SE; Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Partners HealthCare, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA., Saini S, Bramson RT, Kelly P, Levine L, Chiango BF, Jordan P, Seth A, Elton J, Elrick J, Rosenthal D, Holman BL, Thrall JH
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Radiology [Radiology] 1998 Nov; Vol. 209 (2), pp. 405-10.
DOI: 10.1148/radiology.209.2.9807566
Abstrakt: Purpose: To determine how successful two large academic radiology departments have been in responding to market-driven pressures to reduce costs and improve productivity by downsizing their technical and support staffs while maintaining or increasing volume.
Materials and Methods: A longitudinal study was performed in which benchmarking techniques were used to assess the changes in cost and productivity of the two departments for 5 years (fiscal years 1992-1996). Cost per relative value unit and relative value units per full-time equivalent employee were tracked.
Results: Substantial cost reduction and productivity enhancement were realized as linear improvements in two key metrics, namely, cost per relative value unit (decline of 19.0% [decline of $7.60 on a base year cost of $40.00] to 28.8% [$12.18 of $42.21]; P < or = .001) and relative value unit per full-time equivalent employee (increase of 46.0% [increase of 759.55 units over a base year productivity of 1,651.45 units] to 55.8% [968.28 of 1,733.97 units]; P < .001), during the 5 years of study.
Conclusion: Academic radiology departments have proved that they can "do more with less" over a sustained period.
Databáze: MEDLINE