Percutaneous abscess drainage: use of related radiology services and associated economic impact on a radiology practice.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the impact of percutaneous abscess drainage on the usage and professional value of subsequent services provided by a radiology practice.


METHODS
Percutaneous abscess drainage was selected as a marker interventional radiology procedure because of its pervasiveness and ease of identification of related services. Billing records were reviewed for 48 consecutive patients who underwent abscess drainage during a 9-month period. Current procedural terminology (CPT) codes for all radiology services during the subsequent 90 days were analyzed to identify those related to the initial drainage procedure. Professional relative value unit (RVU) impact was calculated.


RESULTS
Initial abscess drainage services were identified by 2.6 +/- 1.2 CPT codes, but patients underwent 13.4 +/- 10.7 related radiology services during the subsequent 90 days. The professional RVU impact of subsequent services was 64% higher than that of initial procedures: initial drainage services accounted for 11.5 +/- 5.1 RVUs and all subsequent related radiology services accounted for 18.9 +/- 16.8 RVUs (P =.0042). Of those, additional interventional radiology procedures amounted to 10.7 +/- 12.8 RVUs, diagnostic radiology services 4.7 +/- 4.6 RVUs, and evaluation and management services 3.5 +/- 2.9 RVUs.


CONCLUSIONS
Basic interventional radiology services may result in far more economic impact on radiology practices than initial direct procedure analyses suggest. For percutaneous abscess drainage, the professional RVU impact of subsequent services exceeds that of the initial procedure by 64%. Practices negotiating capitated contracts for interventional services need to consider the high value of such related services.
Duszak
Richard
R
Department of Radiology, The Reading Hospital and Medical Center, PO Box 16052, Sixth and Spruce Streets, Reading, Pennsylvania 19612-6052, USA. rduszak@att.net
Harris
Andrew B
AB
D018784:Abdominal Abscess / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy*; D000038:Abscess / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004322:Drainage / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010388:Pelvis; D011216:Practice Management, Medical / Q000191:economics*; D015641:Radiography, Interventional / Q000191:economics*; D011871:Radiology / Q000191:economics*; D015895:Relative Value Scales; D014481:United States