Background: Overuse of laboratory investigations is widely prevalent in hospitalized patients, leads to discomfort, and increases direct and indirect costs.
Objective: We implemented a simple, inexpensive, mindfulness strategy on our inpatient medical clinical teaching unit to reduce unnecessary laboratory orders through education, a forcing function, and daily structured laboratory "time outs."
Methods: On a 26-bed unit in an academic hospital center, the per-period laboratory costs per patient were compared pre- and postintervention using segmented regression analysis of an interrupted time series.
Results: The average cost per admitted patient decreased from $117 to $66, with an estimated savings of $50,657 over 985 admissions. After adjusting for fiscal period and the presence of our intervention, there was a significant reduction in the per-patient number of total tests, complete blood counts, and electrolyte panels performed (P <.001 for all level and time trend changes).
Conclusion: This trainee-designed and -led intervention, centered around structured, mindfulness-based laboratory test ordering, was successful at decreasing the overuse of common daily blood work in hospitalized patients.
Keywords: High-value health care; Laboratory tests; Overutilization; Quality improvement; Trainee-led.
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