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Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer Application in Medical Care logoLink to Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer Application in Medical Care
. 1990 Nov 7:683–687.

Evaluation of an Intervention Aimed at Modifying Physician Test-Ordering Behavior

JG Anderson, SJ Jay, JB Zimmerer, RS Farid, MM Anderson
PMCID: PMC2245408

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of structured order forms with a computerized medical information system to reduce the ordering of unnecessary outpatient tests. The study was implemented among house staff in the Family Practice Center and the Adult Ambulatory Care Center at Methodist Hospital of Indiana, a 1120 bed, private teaching hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. Structured order forms were developed by the house staff containing explicit criteria for ordering the following common tests: (1) urinalysis, (2) complete blood count and (3) Chemistry 23. The forms required physicians to indicate a reason for ordering each of these tests. Data were collected during a nine month baseline period and a two month intervention period. The results of a multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measures indicated that the reductions in the rate of CBC orders in both centers were not only significant but also resulted in cost savings of approximately $4,000 for the two month period.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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