Joshua C Uffman1, Dmitry Tumin2, Vidya Raman3, Arlyne Thung3, Brent Adler4, Joseph D Tobias5. 1. Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio; Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio. Electronic address: Joshua.Uffman@Nationwidechildrens.org. 2. Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio; Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio. 3. Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio; Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio. 4. Department of Radiology, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio; Department of Radiology, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio. 5. Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio; Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio; Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: MRI is commonly used in the pediatric population and often requires sedation or general anesthesia to complete. This study used data from a pediatric accountable care organization (ACO) to investigate trends in MRI utilization and in the requirement for anesthesia to complete MRI examinations. METHODS: The Partners for Kids (PFK) ACO claims database was queried for MRI examination encounters involving patients 0 to 18 years old from 2009 to 2014, with utilization expressed as encounters per 10,000 PFK members-months. Data were limited to 2011 to 2014 to ensure consistent billing of anesthesia services. Encounters were classified according to the presence of procedure codes for anesthesia or sedation. RESULTS: MRI utilization was approximately constant over the study period at 11 to 12 encounters per 10,000 member-months. The need for anesthesia increased from 21% to 28% of encounters over 2011 to 2014. The latter increase was shared across 1- to 6-year-old, 7- to 12-year-old, and 12- to 18-year-old subgroups. In multivariable regression analysis of monthly utilization, increasing need for anesthesia could not be attributed to secular trends in patient demographics or types of examinations ordered. Paid cost data were available for outpatient MRIs, and MRIs with sedation accounted for an increasing share of these costs (from 22% in 2011 to 33% in 2014). CONCLUSION: There was an increasing need for anesthesia services to complete MRI examinations in this pediatric population, resulting in increasing cost of MRI examinations and presenting a challenge to ACO cost containment.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: MRI is commonly used in the pediatric population and often requires sedation or general anesthesia to complete. This study used data from a pediatric accountable care organization (ACO) to investigate trends in MRI utilization and in the requirement for anesthesia to complete MRI examinations. METHODS: The Partners for Kids (PFK) ACO claims database was queried for MRI examination encounters involving patients 0 to 18 years old from 2009 to 2014, with utilization expressed as encounters per 10,000 PFK members-months. Data were limited to 2011 to 2014 to ensure consistent billing of anesthesia services. Encounters were classified according to the presence of procedure codes for anesthesia or sedation. RESULTS: MRI utilization was approximately constant over the study period at 11 to 12 encounters per 10,000 member-months. The need for anesthesia increased from 21% to 28% of encounters over 2011 to 2014. The latter increase was shared across 1- to 6-year-old, 7- to 12-year-old, and 12- to 18-year-old subgroups. In multivariable regression analysis of monthly utilization, increasing need for anesthesia could not be attributed to secular trends in patient demographics or types of examinations ordered. Paid cost data were available for outpatient MRIs, and MRIs with sedation accounted for an increasing share of these costs (from 22% in 2011 to 33% in 2014). CONCLUSION: There was an increasing need for anesthesia services to complete MRI examinations in this pediatric population, resulting in increasing cost of MRI examinations and presenting a challenge to ACO cost containment.
Authors: Kamlesh B Patel; Cihat Eldeniz; Gary B Skolnick; Paul K Commean; Parna Eshraghi Boroojeni; Udayabhanu Jammalamadaka; Corinne Merrill; Matthew D Smyth; Manu S Goyal; Hongyu An Journal: J Neurosurg Pediatr Date: 2022-04-22 Impact factor: 2.713
Authors: Joshua C Uffman; Stephani S Kim; Loan N Quan; Thomas Shelton; Ralph J Beltran; Kris R Jatana; Tendy Chiang; Joseph D Tobias Journal: Pediatr Qual Saf Date: 2022-07-01
Authors: Onur Afacan; W Scott Hoge; Tess E Wallace; Ali Gholipour; Sila Kurugol; Simon K Warfield Journal: J Neuroimaging Date: 2020-05-06 Impact factor: 2.486
Authors: Maddy Artunduaga; C Amber Liu; Cara E Morin; Suraj D Serai; Unni Udayasankar; Mary-Louise C Greer; Michael S Gee Journal: Pediatr Radiol Date: 2021-04-16
Authors: Kamlesh B Patel; Cihat Eldeniz; Gary B Skolnick; Udayabhanu Jammalamadaka; Paul K Commean; Manu S Goyal; Matthew D Smyth; Hongyu An Journal: J Neurosurg Pediatr Date: 2020-06-12 Impact factor: 2.375