Study: Displayed costs decrease test orders

Displaying lab test costs in an EHR so clinicians can see a real-time price comparison of what they're ordering resulted in decreased ordering rates for certain tests and saved up to $107 per 1,000 visits per month.

Lab test utilization also decreased by up to 5.6 lab orders per 1,000 visits per month, according to a study published the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

The findings could result in big savings, said Thomas Sequist, MD, Atrius Health director of research, Harvard Vanguard primary care physician and co-author of the study. For a large physician practice bringing in 20,000 visits per month, the reductions translate to $2,140 per month and more than $25,000 a year. 

Physicians in the intervention group received real-time information on laboratory costs for 27 individual tests when they placed their electronic orders; the control group did not see the costs. 

"Our study demonstrates that electronic health records can serve as a tool to promote cost transparency, educate physicians and reduce the use of potentially unnecessary laboratory tests by integrating the relative cost of care into providers’ decision-making processes," said Sequist in a release. "It’s like putting price labels on goods you buy in the supermarket. When you know the prices, you tend to buy more strategically."