A Brief Intervention to Improve Cost-effective Resource Use Among Medicine Housestaff

Cost-Effectiveness Clinical Trial

Official title:

A Brief Intervention to Improve Cost-effective Resource Use Among Medicine Housestaff

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01303263
• Other study ID #: 2009-P-001758/1; BWH
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: February 23, 2011
• Last updated: June 21, 2011
• Start date: September 2009
• Est. completion date: February 2011

Study information

• Verified date: February 2011
• Source: Brigham and Women's Hospital
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

OBJECTIVE: To test a brief intervention designed to improve the cost-effectiveness of care provided by medicine housestaff for hospitalized patients.

HYPOTHESIS: A brief intervention in which medicine residents receive itemized bills for recent patients cared for by them, followed by a discussion on approaches to reducing unnecessary inpatient costs, can result in significant cost reductions without adversely affecting patient outcomes.

Description:

We designed a brief educational intervention with two primary objectives: 1) to increase awareness among residents about how their decisions impact the costs of inpatient medical care; and 2) to improve the cost-effectiveness of care provided by residents without adversely affecting patient outcomes. We hypothesized that a brief intervention in which residents receive bills for patients they recently cared for, followed by a discussion on approaches to reducing unnecessary inpatient costs, would reduce costs without adversely affecting patient outcomes.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 96
• Est. completion date: February 2011
• Est. primary completion date: December 2010
• Gender: Both
• Age group: N/A and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Internal Medicine Residents on Inpatient Rotations at Brigham & Women's Hospital

Exclusion Criteria:

• Having a team member who was in either the control group or intervention group in a prior round of this study.

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Cost-Effectiveness
• Graduate Medical Education

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Educational Intervention
45-minute teaching session on healthcare costs, in which each resident reviewed an itemized hospital bill for a patient he/she had cared for, followed by an open-ended discussion about reducing unnecessary costs.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Brigham & Women's Hospital	Boston	Massachusetts

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Brigham and Women's Hospital	Partners Center of Expertise in Quality and Patient Safety

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Total Cost	Total hospital cost per admission for 2 weeks following the educational intervention.	2 weeks following educational intervention	No
Primary	Lab Cost	Total lab cost per admission for 2 weeks following the educational intervention.	2 weeks following educational intervention	No
Primary	Pharmacy Cost	Total pharmacy cost per admission for 2 weeks following the educational intervention.	2 weeks following educational intervention	No
Primary	Radiology Cost	Total radiology cost per admission for 2 weeks following the educational intervention.	2 weeks following educational intervention	No
Secondary	length of stay		2 weeks after educational intervention	No
Secondary	admission to an intensive care unit (ICU)		2 weeks after educational intervention	Yes
Secondary	30-day readmission		within 30 days after end of study period	Yes
Secondary	30-day mortality		within 30 days after end of study period	Yes