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HONOLULU – Patients on a pediatric hospitalist service spent a mean 38% fewer days in the hospital and had 29% lower direct costs, on average, than did patients on traditional house staff services, according to a 1-year study of more than 900 patients.
Dr. Arpi Bekmezian of the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues retrospectively compared 816 pediatric cases assigned to GI and hematology/oncology subspecialty services with 109 cases assigned to a pediatric hospitalist service between July 1, 2005, and June 30, 2006.
Patients were admitted to the hospitalist service when the faculty/house staff services reached their maximum capacity. The assignments were made solely on the basis of the hospital census, not on diagnosis, acuity, or complexity.
The study was conducted at the UCLA Hospital and Medical Center, a nonprofit tertiary care teaching hospital with 70 pediatric beds. The patients' mean age was 8 years, and there were no statistically significant differences on the all-patient refined diagnostic-related group severity scale.
Neither were there any statistically significant differences in the proportion of patients with private insurance, Medicaid, or other insurance, Dr. Bekmezian reported in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies.
The mean length of stay was 10 days in the subspecialty services vs. 7 days in the hospitalist service.
The average variable of direct cost of stay excluding physician fees was $16,500 in the subspecialty services vs. $11,000 in the hospitalist service.
Both differences were statistically significant.
Rates of readmission also were significantly different: a mean 4% for patients in the subspecialty services, compared with 0% for patients in the hospitalist service.
There were no statistically significant differences in mortality: a mean 2% in the subspecialty services, compared with a mean 1% in the hospitalist service, Dr. Bekmezian said.
Dr. Bekmezian declared that he had no conflicts of interest related to his presentation.
HONOLULU – Patients on a pediatric hospitalist service spent a mean 38% fewer days in the hospital and had 29% lower direct costs, on average, than did patients on traditional house staff services, according to a 1-year study of more than 900 patients.
Dr. Arpi Bekmezian of the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues retrospectively compared 816 pediatric cases assigned to GI and hematology/oncology subspecialty services with 109 cases assigned to a pediatric hospitalist service between July 1, 2005, and June 30, 2006.
Patients were admitted to the hospitalist service when the faculty/house staff services reached their maximum capacity. The assignments were made solely on the basis of the hospital census, not on diagnosis, acuity, or complexity.
The study was conducted at the UCLA Hospital and Medical Center, a nonprofit tertiary care teaching hospital with 70 pediatric beds. The patients' mean age was 8 years, and there were no statistically significant differences on the all-patient refined diagnostic-related group severity scale.
Neither were there any statistically significant differences in the proportion of patients with private insurance, Medicaid, or other insurance, Dr. Bekmezian reported in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies.
The mean length of stay was 10 days in the subspecialty services vs. 7 days in the hospitalist service.
The average variable of direct cost of stay excluding physician fees was $16,500 in the subspecialty services vs. $11,000 in the hospitalist service.
Both differences were statistically significant.
Rates of readmission also were significantly different: a mean 4% for patients in the subspecialty services, compared with 0% for patients in the hospitalist service.
There were no statistically significant differences in mortality: a mean 2% in the subspecialty services, compared with a mean 1% in the hospitalist service, Dr. Bekmezian said.
Dr. Bekmezian declared that he had no conflicts of interest related to his presentation.
HONOLULU – Patients on a pediatric hospitalist service spent a mean 38% fewer days in the hospital and had 29% lower direct costs, on average, than did patients on traditional house staff services, according to a 1-year study of more than 900 patients.
Dr. Arpi Bekmezian of the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues retrospectively compared 816 pediatric cases assigned to GI and hematology/oncology subspecialty services with 109 cases assigned to a pediatric hospitalist service between July 1, 2005, and June 30, 2006.
Patients were admitted to the hospitalist service when the faculty/house staff services reached their maximum capacity. The assignments were made solely on the basis of the hospital census, not on diagnosis, acuity, or complexity.
The study was conducted at the UCLA Hospital and Medical Center, a nonprofit tertiary care teaching hospital with 70 pediatric beds. The patients' mean age was 8 years, and there were no statistically significant differences on the all-patient refined diagnostic-related group severity scale.
Neither were there any statistically significant differences in the proportion of patients with private insurance, Medicaid, or other insurance, Dr. Bekmezian reported in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies.
The mean length of stay was 10 days in the subspecialty services vs. 7 days in the hospitalist service.
The average variable of direct cost of stay excluding physician fees was $16,500 in the subspecialty services vs. $11,000 in the hospitalist service.
Both differences were statistically significant.
Rates of readmission also were significantly different: a mean 4% for patients in the subspecialty services, compared with 0% for patients in the hospitalist service.
There were no statistically significant differences in mortality: a mean 2% in the subspecialty services, compared with a mean 1% in the hospitalist service, Dr. Bekmezian said.
Dr. Bekmezian declared that he had no conflicts of interest related to his presentation.