Impact of clinical guidelines to improve appropriateness of laboratory tests and chest radiographs.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the impact of clinical guidelines to improve appropriate use of routine laboratory tests and bedside chest radiographs in a medical intensive care.


METHODS
A two-year (Period-1: 2005, Period-2: 2006), retrospective, comparative study, before and after policy implementation.


METHODS
All consecutive patients admitted during the study periods.


METHODS
A university hospital 15-bed medical ICU.


METHODS
Multifaceted intervention combining a daily routine prescription help-guide developed by a multidisciplinary group and displayed at patient's bedside, educational sessions and feedbacks by information on volumes of prescription. Individual adaptation to patient's clinical status was allowed by protocol.


RESULTS
The overall number and cost of laboratory tests and chest radiographs during Period-2 (with the help guide; from 01 to 12-2006) were compared to Period-1 (from 01 to 12-2005).


RESULTS
Patients' general characteristics were similar during the two periods. A relative reduction of routine laboratory tests performance was observed per patient-ICU-day, ranging from 38 to 71.5% depending on the type of tests (P < 0.001 in all cases). For chest radiographs, a 41% relative reduction was observed between the two periods (P < 0.001). Daily ICU laboratory tests and chest radiographs cost per patient decreased from 114 to 56 euros. An overall 300,000 euros ICU cost reduction was directly related to the protocol implementation.


CONCLUSIONS
The implementation of a laboratory tests and chest radiographs prescription protocol within our ICU induced an important cost saving.
Prat
Gwénaël
G
Réanimation Médicale, Pôle Vasculaire-Urgences, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Cavale Blanche, Bd Tanguy Prigent, 29609 Brest Cedex, France. gwenael.prat@chu-brest.fr
Lefèvre
Montaine
M
Nowak
Emmanuel
E
Tonnelier
Jean-Marie
JM
Renault
Anne
A
L'Her
Erwan
E
Boles
Jean-Michel
JM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000191:economics*; D003363:Cost Control; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic / Q000191:economics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019564:Unnecessary Procedures / Q000191:economics*