Houston, TX and Annapolis, MD / PRWeb / March 27, 2013 — RadSite™, a leader in promoting quality-based practices for imaging systems across the United States, announces the results of a recent study demonstrating that RadSite’s Certification Program has a positive return on investment (ROI). Based on the independently conducted research, the analysis estimates an average “5.8 to 1” ROI last year for a national health plan that uses the RadSite Certification Program. These results support the sentinel effect of a health plan, network or payor that uses RadSite to create a “smart” imaging network.
“Promoting quality is a core objective of most accreditation programs in health care,” notes Garry Carneal, JD, MA, RadSite president. “However, quantifying the linkage between quality and reducing costs can be difficult to document. RadSite is encouraged by the results of this ROI study and the fact that the RadSite Certification Program lowers imaging costs and utilization trends for a national health plan that requires its imaging providers be RadSite Certified.”
The RadSite Certification Program was originally designed to promote quality and patient safety. RadSite hired Trajectory® Healthcare, LLC, a third-party consulting firm that promotes comparative effectiveness research, to develop an operational model to assess the impact of RadSite on imaging trends based on an empirical framework and methodology. The Trajectory analysis highlights the benefits of the RadSite Certification Program and the importance of making sure imaging providers are certified and re-certified periodically to reduce the incidence of unnecessary imaging.
“RadSite should be congratulated for opening up its program data for an objective third-party evaluation,” says Thomas Wilson, PhD, DrPH, epidemiologist and founder of Trajectory Healthcare. “In RadSite’s case, the initial certification event, which RadSite hypothesized to be a ‘sentinel event’ for provider groups, occurred over a multiple-year period, making the RadSite program perfectly suited for modeling by the Trajectory Analytic Engine,” notes Wilson.
The Trajectory Analytic Engine™ provides RadSite with a dynamic way to assess and measure the impact of imaging providers who attest to RadSite Standards. Wilson elaborates on the methodology used to create the study: “The provider group’s costs (inflation adjusted) were summarized two years before and two years after the certification event. Importantly, these pre-certification cost patterns among these providers are not likely subject to major selection biases (e.g., regression-to-the-mean). The costs of imaging were projected forward and compared to post-certification trends and other secular trends. The initial results suggest a strong impact of the ‘sentinel event’ of RadSite certification. Further research should be conducted to better elucidate the reasons, quality and otherwise, for the average drop in costs.”
RadSite offers a multi-tiered approach to benchmarking quality and reducing unnecessary imaging. RadSite’s flagship program, the RadSite Certification Program, provides an online assessment process for imaging providers with onsite and desktop audits to verify compliance. RadSite also has developed a new Accreditation Program to help imaging providers meet the requirements of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA). Over the coming months, RadSite will continue to expand its activities and resources to serve patients, providers, payors, government agencies, and other stakeholder groups.
For more information about RadSite or order a copy of a summary of RadSite’s Trajectory study, call (855) 440-6001 or send an email to info@radsitequality.com. The study may be requested online at www.RadSiteQuality.com/contact_us.
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About RadSite™ (www.RadSiteQuality.com)
Founded in 2005, RadSite’s mission is to promote quality-based practices for imaging systems across the United States and its territories. RadSite has reviewed over 24,000 imaging facilities covering about 60,000 imaging systems. RadSite’s certification and accreditation programs help assess, track and report imaging trends in an effort to enhance imaging procedures and outcomes. RadSite also offers educational programs, publishes issue briefs, and underwrites research on a complimentary basis to raise awareness of patient safety issues and to promote best practices. The organization is governed by an independent board and committee system, which is open to a wide-range of volunteers to ensure transparency and accountability. RadSite is expanding its activities and resources to serve patients, providers, payers, government agencies, and other stakeholder groups. To learn more about RadSite, please contact us at (855) 440-6001 or info@radsitequality.com.