Abstract 247: Reducing Repeat Echocardiography Testing In Hospitalized Patients

Background/Problem: Medicare spends more than $900 million annually on cardiac echocardiography. Despite the development of appropriate use criteria for echocardiography to limit inappropriate testing, at least 5% to 20% of studies may remain inappropriate. For simple indications or repeat serial exams, a brief, limited transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) with minimal views and measurements may answer the diagnostic question. In the current state, there are no guidelines of when to order a comprehensive TTE vs limited TTE or a reminder in our electronic health record system (EPIC) that a TTE has already been done. Few physicians are aware of the possibility of even ordering a limited TTE.

Intervention: Patient encounters with repeat comprehensive TTE orders were randomized (in real-time) to the intervention, an electronic reminder or best practice alert (BPA), or control, no reminder. The reminder interrupted the ordering process and notified the ordering provider that a comprehensive TTE result was available within the prior 3 months. The reminder provided a link to the result and offered a limited study order as an alternative. The primary outcome was the number of full versus limited TTEs.

Results: Over one year in a tertiary care medical center, 3314 patient encounters were randomized to the intervention (N=1661) with a BPA or control group (N=1653) without a reminder. In the control group, there were 1803 full TTE and 222 limited TTE. In the intervention group, there were 1647 full TTE and 379 limited TTE. Analysis with chi-square testing resulted in a p<0.0001.

Conclusion: In this randomized trial, a BPA or interruptive reminder in an EHR reduced repeat comprehensive echo testing. The reduced repeat testing can decrease the cost of care, increase access by decreasing wait times for other patients, and potentially improve the patient experience by avoiding any discomfort associated with testing.