What is the cost to the nation to bring in specialists to consult on hospitalized Medicare patients? This question was studied based on analysis of over 700,000 discharges from over 4500 U.S. hospitals in 2014. Medicare Part B payment for consultative care was found to represent 41.3 percent of all physician visits during the hospital stays. The total dollar amount was estimated to be $1.3 billion. These figures are thought to be underestimates because the patients studied excluded surgical patients and because there was no analysis of downstream costs – such as additional diagnostic testing and follow-up visits. Characteristics of hospitals which were found to be more likely to have higher rates of consultative visits included those in the Northeast, those in urban areas and teaching hospitals.
Source: Ryskina, K.L., Association of Medicare spending with subspecialty consultation for elderly hospitalized adults. JAMA Network Open, 2(4). Click here for full text: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2729802 Posted by AHA Resource Center (312) 422-2050 rc@aha.org
