A Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing Analysis of Emergency Department Scribes

Robert S. Kaplan; Heather A. Heaton; David M. Nestler; William J. Barry; Richard A. Helmers; Mustafa Y. Sir; Deepi G. Goyal; Derek A. Haas; Annie T. Sadosty

Article | Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes | March 2019

A Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing Analysis of Emergency Department Scribes

by Robert S. Kaplan, Heather A. Heaton, David M. Nestler, William J. Barry, Richard A. Helmers, Mustafa Y. Sir, Deepi G. Goyal, Derek A. Haas and Annie T. Sadosty

Abstract

Objectives: To apply time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) methodology to determine emergency medicine physician documentation costs with and without scribes.

Methods: Two research assistants shadowed attending physicians for a total of 64 hours in the adult emergency department. A tablet-based time recorded was used to obtain estimates for physician documentation time on both control (no scribe) and intervention (scribe) shifts.

Results: Control shifts yielded approximately 3 hours of documentation time per 8 hours of clinical time. When paired with a scribe, attending physician documentation decreased to 1 hour and 45 minutes during a shift and 15 minutes of post-shift documentation. The physician cost estimate for documentation without and with a scribe is 644 and 488 dollars, respectively.

Conclusions: TDABC methodology demonstrated that scribes afford a cost-effective solution to ED clinical documentation. The costing approach enables clinicians to understand utilization and cost of medical resource at a more granular level.

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Health Care and Treatment; Analysis;

Format: Electronic

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Citation:

Kaplan, Robert S., Heather A. Heaton, David M. Nestler, William J. Barry, Richard A. Helmers, Mustafa Y. Sir, Deepi G. Goyal, Derek A. Haas, and Annie T. Sadosty. "A Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing Analysis of Emergency Department Scribes." Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes 3, no. 1 (March 2019): 30–34.

Leaders at six hospitals conducted a research study to assess and compare the health outcomes and costs of pediatric aerodigestive care. Four of the hospitals delivered care with an integrated practice unit (IPU) while two delivered care traditionally, with isolated specialists. The study used time-driven activity-based costing as a tool to measure and compare costs across the six sites. The results demonstrate that the four IPU sites improved clinical outcomes and had lower costs of care.

Value-based care models are becoming instrumental in structuring clinical care delivery in our healthcare climate. Our objective was to determine the value associated with implementation of a Family-Centered Care Coordination (FCCC) program for neonates undergoing tracheostomy.

Article | American Heart Journal

Are Cost Advantages from a Modern Indian Hospital Transferable to the United States?

R. S. Kaplan, F. Erhun, V.G. Narayanan, B. Mistry and K. Brayton, et al

We use time-driven activity-based costing to estimate the cost of personnel and space for an elective coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery at two U.S. hospitals, Intermountain and Baylor Heart, and Narayana Health (NH), in India. All three hospitals use modern management methods to achieve excellent patient outcomes. We use variance analysis to remove the effect of differential prices paid for personnel and space at the three hospitals. NH, even at U.S. price levels, retains a cost advantage over the two U.S. hospitals by shifting tasks to less-credentialed and/or less-experienced personnel, supervised by highly-skilled personnel, a practice facilitated by NH’s high annual CABG volume. NH offsets some of its task downshifting cost savings by having lower-skilled employees spend more time counseling patients and their families for in-hospital and home recovery. NH’s cost-saving practices could be captured by U.S. hospitals by relaxing hospital and health professional licensing regulations, encouraging greater family participation in inpatient care, and performing complex surgeries in high-volume regional centers of excellence.

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Organizational Structure; Performance Efficiency; India; United States;

Citation:

Kaplan, R. S., F. Erhun, V.G. Narayanan, B. Mistry, and K. Brayton, et al. "Are Cost Advantages from a Modern Indian Hospital Transferable to the United States?" American Heart Journal 224 (June 2020): 148–155. View Details

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A Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing Analysis of Emergency Department Scribes

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