An interventional study of Normative report card in Utilization and Laboratory, Hospital, sponsored by University of Pennsylvania. Completed. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-04-06.
Sponsored by University of Pennsylvania · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research
Studies suggest that some laboratory tests ordered for hospitalized patients are duplicative or have limited value. This study will evaluate a normative feedback intervention to reduce overuse of laboratory tests for hospitalized patients by internal medicine physicians-in-training.
Past research has shown that 25% of diagnostic testing is duplicative or has limited value. Academic medical centers that employ physicians-in-training may find it particularly challenging to reduce low value testing due to a historical emphasis on extensive workups by trainees. Despite the increased emphasis on cost-consciousness in medical education, there is little existing research evaluating ways to optimize ordering behaviors of physicians-in-training. This study will evaluate a normative feedback intervention for internal medicine physicians-in-training to reduce overuse of routine laboratory tests for hospitalized patients. Physicians-in-training will be cluster-randomized into two arms: (1) those who receive report cards (intervention group), (2) those who will not receive report cards (control group). We will study the use of routine laboratory tests over a pre-intervention period of 1 week and a post-randomization period of 1 week. We will study physician attitudes about the real-time feedback dashboard with qualitative assessments in focus groups after the completion of the intervention.
University of Pennsylvania is the lead sponsor of 1,635 studies on the registry; 239 are open to participants now.
Of its 154 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 104 (68%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
The intervention arm will receive an email report card describing their lab use compared to their peers as well as a link to a website visually tracking the team's daily ordering of common lab tests compared to the peer teams.
Behavioral: Normative report card
Physicians in the control arm will not receive the email or website link.
Personalized visual report card describing physician's laboratory ordering pattern for prior week relative to peers as well as a link to a website tracking lab ordering for the team in real time compared to peer teams.
Routine laboratory tests/patient-day
the number of routine laboratory tests per patient-day ordered by the physicians-in-training
Time frame: 6 months
Laboratory costs
Time frame: 6 months
Routine imaging tests/patient-day
Time frame: 6 months
Physicians' attitudes toward laboratory test use and receiving feedback
Focus groups
Time frame: 6 months
Non-routine laboratory tests/patient-day
Time frame: 6 months
No study locations are listed for this record.
This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2023. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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University of Pennsylvania