Skip Navigation

**DRAFT**

Lab Breakthrough Pilot Planning Metrics

Goal of Breakthrough Pilot: Demonstrate the value (to patients, to providers, and to payers) of ambulatory care clinicians having electronic access to current and historical laboratory results. The purpose of this pilot is to inform policy makers and encourage HIT adoption by patients and providers.

Demonstration of value requires agreement on measurable indices. These value metrics will likely fall into the following four categories: Quality, Patient Satisfaction, Provider Satisfaction, and Cost.

QUALITY:

Having electronic access to current and historical lab data by clinicians could impact quality in the following areas:

  • Monitoring/ prescribing medications

  • Adverse drug event prevention

  • Reminders for preventive screens

  • Chronic disease management

  • PH/ disease reporting / monitoring

Potential metrics:

  • Timeliness: of available data (complete lab record) for providers

PATIENT SATISFACTION:

Having electronic access to current and historical lab data by clinicians could impact patient satisfaction in the following areas:

  • Improved timeliness of results = time/ cost savings to patients

  • Avoidance of exposure to duplicate invasive tests

  • Satisfaction with lab results available via a PHR tool

  • Satisfaction of being a more involved partner in care

  • Importance of provider use of HIT in provider choice

Potential metrics:

  • Will need to be obtained via a small survey

PROVIDER SATISFACTION: (“provider” includes labs):

Having electronic access to current and historical lab data by clinicians could impact provider satisfaction in the following areas:

  • Willingness to use/ perceived benefit to physician and lab

  • Degree of ease of access/ Utility

  • Increased efficiency in office workflow

  • In creased efficiency in lab workflow

  • Lab clearer “hand off” of results

  • Reduction/redistribution of FTE in lab or office

Potential metrics:

  • Will need to be obtained via a small survey

COST: (from all 3 stakeholder perspectives)

Having electronic access to current and historical lab data by clinicians could impact cost in the following areas:

  • Error reduction

  • Cost to store (economic model for storage)

  • Interface costs

    • Lab

    • Provider EHR

  • ROI

  • Lab savings from decrease in redundant labs

  • Productivity gains

  • Improved charge capture

Potential metrics:

  • Number of orders for total or specific lab tests/ over time & per patient

  • Total cost of care

  • Survey of providers and payers

Page 2