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Cost of over-triage on the nation's health system: US researchers find potential area of cost savings

Date:
September 10, 2010
Source:
University of California - San Diego
Summary:
Researchers in the US have identified "secondary over-triage" as a potential area of cost savings for the nation's health care.
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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified "secondary over-triage" as a potential area of cost savings for the nation's health care. The phenomenon of over-triage occurs when patients are transferred twice, and discharged from a second facility in less than 24 hours.

These findings will be published in the Sept. 10 issue of The Journal of Trauma.

"By looking at the number of times patients are transferred, we can evaluate the overall efficiency of our trauma system and its impact on healthcare costs," said Hayley Osen, research analyst for the UCSD Center for Surgical Systems and Public Health. "The average cost of a patient who faces secondary over-triage is $5,917, a significant burden given that per capita spending alone in the U.S. is around $8,000."

"Primary over-triage" refers to the transport of patients from the field to hospitals while "secondary over-triage" refers to the transport of patients between hospitals, involving the decision making of hospital-based medical personnel.

"The paper highlights the issue of defensive medicine," said David Chang, PhD, MPH, MBA, director of the UCSD Center for Surgical Systems and Public Health. "We found that pediatric patients are most prone to secondary over-triage, which may be due to physicians or hospitals being overly cautious for fear of legal repercussions."

The paper indicates that 20 percent of pediatric patients were discharged within 24 hrs after transfer to a second facility. Rapid discharge after transfer was defined as patients who were discharged within one day and did not receive any surgical procedure. Chang noted that if patients are discharged within 24 hrs, it is unlikely they needed to be transferred in the first place.

Part of the Department of Surgery, the UCSD Center for Surgical Systems and Public Health is an outcomes-based research program dedicated to improving the nation's healthcare systems by shaping science research, public policy and clinical practice.

Researchers for this paper included Hayley B. Osen, BA, Robert R. Bass, MD, Fizan Abdullah, MD, and David C. Chang, PhD, MPH, MBA.


Story Source:

Materials provided by University of California - San Diego. Original written by Jackie Carr. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

University of California - San Diego. "Cost of over-triage on the nation's health system: US researchers find potential area of cost savings." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 September 2010. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100910082306.htm>.
University of California - San Diego. (2010, September 10). Cost of over-triage on the nation's health system: US researchers find potential area of cost savings. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100910082306.htm
University of California - San Diego. "Cost of over-triage on the nation's health system: US researchers find potential area of cost savings." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100910082306.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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