Do Hospitalists Reduce Costs or Merely Shift Them?
August 3, 2011 Leave a Comment
A new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that cost-savings associated with Hospital Medicine care may be offset by increased costs associated with readmissions and ER visits. The analysis from researchers at the Sealy Center on Aging at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston looked at five years of Medicare admissions from 2001 to 2006.
As reported in Modern Healthcare: The study found that “patients cared for by hospitalists had 0.64 of a day shorter average length of stay (5.17 days compared to 5.82) and their charges were $282 lower ($15,019 vs. $15,301). But the researchers said Medicare costs for these patients were $332 higher 30 days after discharge ($3,279 vs. $2,947).
Also, the hospitalist-seen patients were less likely to be discharged to home or have an appointment with a primary-care physician and more likely to have an emergency department visit.
“Hospitalists, who typically are employed or subsidized by hospitals, may be more susceptible to behaviors that promote cost shifting,” concluded the study authors.
The increased costs associated with readmissions and ER visits total $1.1B in added costs to Medicare annually. That figure is creating a slew of negative headlines for Hospitalists, like this one from Fox News: Hospital-based Doctors Behind Surge In Medicare Spending, Study Finds.
