Slone Harris S, Buckner Jeannie F, Hewson Kirstie, Barr Michael J, Crawford Thomas, Woolf Shane K
a Department of Orthopaedics and Physical Medicine , Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston , SC , USA.
b College of Medicine , Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston , SC , USA.
Phys Sportsmed. 2018 Nov;46(4):460-465. doi: 10.1080/00913847.2018.1502570. Epub 2018 Jul 31.
There are numerous benefits of organized athletics, but there is an inherent risk with competitive participation. The need for proper care for high school and community athletes can be met with comprehensive community sports medicine programs, and the employment of certified athletic trainers (AT-Cs). The benefit of clinic-based AT-C has been clearly demonstrated, but there has been little published on the economics of outreach AT-C serving directly in the community. Our hypothesis was that outreach AT-Cs are economically sustainable to an academic health system.
Evaluation of clinical business generated from the outreach Sports Medicine AT-C program at our institution was performed from fiscal years 2012 to 2015 to determine new referrals, billable patient encounters (bpe), and corresponding revenue generated. Data were retrieved from an existing aggregate business analysis, including both professional billing and hospital billing; data were restricted to the fiscal year of the initial referral. Both new patients and patients with established care were identified. Total revenue was determined, as well as the distribution across clinical departments within our health system.
8570 bpe resulted from 843 patients referred into the system, yielding $2286,733 in total revenue. Of these, 187 were new patients, yielding 1602 bpe. Each patient generated an average of 10.17 bpe, by combining revenue across services; this yielded an average of $2712 per patient generated through the AT-C program.
Affiliation between a health system and community sports teams through an outreach AT-C program is an economically sustainable, symbiotic relationship. Additionally, there is not only a positive economic impact for sports medicine and orthopaedic providers but also a distinct benefit to the entire health system. This is the first study to demonstrate that an outreach AT-C program is financially sustainable and directly benefits the entire health system across many subspecialties.
有组织的体育运动有诸多益处，但参与竞技运动存在内在风险。通过全面的社区运动医学项目以及聘用认证运动训练师（AT-C），可以满足高中和社区运动员获得适当护理的需求。基于诊所的AT-C的益处已得到明确证明，但关于直接在社区服务的外展AT-C的经济学研究却鲜有发表。我们的假设是，外展AT-C对学术健康系统在经济上是可持续的。
对我们机构2012财年至2015财年外展运动医学AT-C项目产生的临床业务进行评估，以确定新转诊患者、可计费患者诊疗次数（bpe）以及相应产生的收入。数据从现有的综合业务分析中获取，包括专业计费和医院计费；数据仅限于首次转诊的财年。识别出新患者和已有护理的患者。确定了总收入以及我们健康系统内各临床科室的收入分配情况。
843名转诊至该系统的患者产生了8570次bpe，总收入为2286733美元。其中，187名是新患者，产生了1602次bpe。通过合并各项服务的收入，每位患者平均产生10.17次bpe；通过AT-C项目，每位患者平均产生2712美元的收入。
通过外展AT-C项目，健康系统与社区运动队之间的合作关系在经济上是可持续的，是一种共生关系。此外，这不仅对运动医学和骨科医疗服务提供者有积极的经济影响，对整个健康系统也有明显益处。这是第一项证明外展AT-C项目在财务上具有可持续性且直接惠及整个健康系统多个亚专业的研究。
