Biomaterial Database

Teaching cost containment to house officers at Charlotte Memorial Hospital. 1979

C B Lyle, and R F Bianchi, and J H Harris, and Z L Wood

A cost containment program initiated in 1975 on the medical teaching service of an 890-bed university affiliated hospital has led to a significant improvement in house staff utilization of facilities and procedures. During the first three and one-half years of the program the average length of stay on the general medical service was reduced by 21 percent; and the cost per admission rose at a rate of only 4.3 percent per annum, while the cost per admission on other services rose at an average rate of 14.5 percent per year. In the outpatient setting eliminating unnecessary laboratory procedures resulted in an actual reduction in patient-encounter cost initiated by interns despite price increases on all procedures. Overall cost advantage gained by reduction in utilization will rapidly be negated, however, if the current rate of inflation continues.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007902	Length of Stay	The period of confinement of a patient to a hospital or other health facility.	Hospital Stay,Hospital Stays,Stay Length,Stay Lengths,Stay, Hospital,Stays, Hospital
D008505	Medical Staff, Hospital	Professional medical personnel approved to provide care to patients in a hospital.	Attending Physicians, Hospital,Hospital Medical Staff,Physicians, Junior,Registrars, Hospital,Attending Physician, Hospital,Hospital Attending Physician,Hospital Attending Physicians,Hospital Medical Staffs,Medical Staffs, Hospital,Hospital Registrar,Hospital Registrars,Junior Physician,Junior Physicians,Physician, Junior,Registrar, Hospital,Staff, Hospital Medical,Staffs, Hospital Medical
D009657	North Carolina	State bounded on the north by Virginia, on the east and Southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Georgia and South Carolina, and on the west by Tennessee.
D010044	Outpatient Clinics, Hospital	Organized services in a hospital which provide medical care on an outpatient basis.	Ambulatory Care Facilities, Hospital,Hospital Outpatient Clinics,Clinic, Hospital Outpatient,Clinics, Hospital Outpatient,Hospital Outpatient Clinic,Outpatient Clinic, Hospital
D003363	Cost Control	The containment, regulation, or restraint of costs. Costs are said to be contained when the value of resources committed to an activity is not considered excessive. This determination is frequently subjective and dependent upon the specific geographic area of the activity being measured. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)	Cost Containment,Containment, Cost,Containments, Cost,Control, Cost,Controls, Cost,Cost Containments,Cost Controls
D006746	Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over	The number of beds 500 or more which a hospital has been designed and constructed to contain. It may also refer to the number of beds set up and staffed for use.	Hospital Bed Capacity 500 Over
D006785	Hospitals, University	Hospitals maintained by a university for the teaching of medical students, postgraduate training programs, and clinical research.	University Hospitals