Imaging utilization in the era of the hospitalist.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to determine whether hospitalists specifically reduce inpatient radiologic testing and radiology costs, which to our knowledge has not previously been studied. We examined the number of radiologic studies ordered, total cost of radiology utilization, cost per patient, mean length of stay, and readmission rates for hospitalists and nonhospitalists across the top-10 discharge diagnosis related groups for hospitalists from October 2000 to September 2001.


CONCLUSIONS
We found no decreases in the utilization of radiology resources by hospitalists. Given the increasing volume and importance of radiology in clinical decision making, there will be increased pressure to justify the costs of these studies. We believe that more data should be collected about the use of radiology resources.
Khasgiwala
Vaibhav C
VC
Department of Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 1 Deaconess Rd., Clinical Center West, 3rd Fl., Boston, MA 02215, USA. vkhasgiw@bidmc.harvard.edu
Aronson
Mark D
MD
Davis
Roger B
RB
Rosen
Max P
MP
D000368:Aged; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D017721:Hospital Costs; D020445:Hospitalists / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D010359:Patient Readmission