Routine individual feedback on requests for diagnostic tests: an economic evaluation

Abstract

The authors assessed the economic cor sequences of routine individual feedback on test requests provided to 85 family physicians in a region with 187,000 inhabitants. In a retrospective study as part of a quasi-experiment, cost trends in a region where feedback was provided over a seven-year period were compared with cost trends elsewhere in The Netherlands without feedback. Data on variable costs were obtained for 400 individual tests that accounted for 90% of all requests. Differences in request trends thus were transformed to savings in costs of diagnostic testing, taking account of the extra costs of providing the feedback. Expenditures for diagnostic testing declined after the start of the feedback, despite the costs of providing the feedback. The savings increased as the feedback continued. Compared with the trend elsewhere without feedback, over seven years a total net sum of 1.4 million U.S. dollars was saved. Routine individual feedback is therefore economically worthwhile.