Nicolello Timothy S, Pecha Forrest Q, Omdal Reed L, Nilsson Kurt J, Homaechevarria Alejandro A
St Luke's Sports Medicine, Boise, Idaho.
Sports Health. 2017 Jan/Feb;9(1):70-74. doi: 10.1177/1941738116676452. Epub 2016 Nov 1.
Orthopaedic clinics have acquired a multitude of health professionals to improve clinic efficiency. More recently, athletic trainers (ATs) have been utilized to improve clinical efficiency and patient care because of their extensive background in musculoskeletal injuries and anatomy. Improved clinical efficiency allows for increased patient visits, potentially enhancing patient access and downstream revenue via relative value units (RVUs).
The addition of an AT into a sports medicine physician's clinic will increase total patient throughput and overall RVU production.
Retrospective analysis.
Level 4.
Patients seen by each of the 2 primary care sports medicine physicians at St Luke's Sports Medicine for a 2-year period were retrospectively evaluated. The initial clinic model included the physician and a medical assistant; during the second year of analysis an AT was added to the clinic staffing model. Two-tailed t tests were used to determine significant differences in patient volume between the 2 periods of data collection.
Through the implementation of an AT, patient throughput increased by 0.7 patients per hour over 2 half-day clinics, a 25% increase ( P < 0.01). Physician B patient visits increased by 21%, or 3.8 patients per 6.5-hour clinic day ( P < 0.01). Additionally, RVU production increased by 3.23 per half-day and 4.3 per full day for physicians A and B, respectively.
Clinical efficiency was improved with the addition of an AT. Total physician RVUs improved, thereby raising the potential revenue of both the physician and health care institution. Employing ATs in a sports medicine clinic may improve clinical productivity and financial stability, thereby validating the incorporation of ATs into the established clinical model.
Limited research exists measuring patient throughput with an AT in a sports medicine clinic. This study investigates patient throughput and the subsequent increase in work-based RVUs.
骨科诊所已配备了众多医疗专业人员以提高诊所效率。最近，运动训练师（AT）因其在肌肉骨骼损伤和解剖学方面的丰富背景，被用于提高临床效率和患者护理质量。临床效率的提高使得患者就诊量增加，有可能通过相对价值单位（RVU）提高患者就诊机会和下游收入。
在运动医学医生诊所增加一名运动训练师将提高患者总诊疗量和总体RVU产出。
回顾性分析。
4级。
对圣卢克运动医学中心的2名初级保健运动医学医生在2年期间诊治的患者进行回顾性评估。最初的诊所模式包括医生和一名医疗助理；在分析的第二年，诊所人员配置模式中增加了一名运动训练师。使用双尾t检验来确定两个数据收集期之间患者数量的显著差异。
通过增加一名运动训练师，在两个半天的诊所中，患者诊疗量每小时增加了0.7名患者，增长了25%（P<0.01）。医生B的患者就诊量增加了21%，即每6.5小时的诊日增加3.8名患者（P<0.01）。此外，医生A和医生B的RVU产出分别每半天增加3.23和每全天增加4.3。
增加一名运动训练师提高了临床效率。医生的总RVU有所改善，从而提高了医生和医疗机构的潜在收入。在运动医学诊所聘用运动训练师可能会提高临床生产力和财务稳定性，从而验证将运动训练师纳入既定临床模式的合理性。
在运动医学诊所中，关于运动训练师对患者诊疗量影响的研究有限。本研究调查了患者诊疗量以及随后基于工作的RVU的增加情况。
