Becker's Hospital Review

96 CMO / CARE DELIVERY Hospital-employed physicians more likely to order unneeded MRIs, study finds By Kelly Gooch P atients of physicians employed by hospitals are more likely to receive inappropriate referrals for diagnostic imaging, according to a study published May 3 in Health Affairs. e study — led by researchers from Boston-based Northeastern Uni- versity, Stonehill College in Easton, Mass., and Boston University — is based on commercial health insurance claims from the Massachusetts All Payer Claims Database, as well as Medicare claims data and data from health plans. Data was collected for MRI referrals for three con- ditions — uncomplicated lower back pain, nontraumatic knee pain without joint effusion, and nontraumatic shoulder pain without joint effusion — for 2009 through 2016. For the study, researchers compared a study cohort of 583 primary care physicians who became employed by a hospital in Massachusetts from 2009 through 2016 with 3,102 Massachusetts physicians who were not employed by a hospital during the study period. e study found an association between hospital employment of phy- sicians and patients' likelihood of receiving MRI referrals generally. For the study cohort, researchers also found that patients' likelihood of receiving inappropriate MRI referrals climbed by 26 percent related to hospital employment of physicians. Additionally, researchers said physicians were more likely to refer pa- tients for MRIs once they were employed by a hospital than before that employment began. "Our findings are in line with previous studies that have reported an association between hospital-physician integration and higher costs for patient care," the study's authors concluded. "However, our findings offer evidence that such higher costs are not largely a matter of better service access for patients. Rather, hospital-physician integration ap- pears to be a potential driver of low-value care." n Disinfection robots will stick around after pandemic, experts predict By Mackenzie Bean M any industries have turned to disinfection robots to auto- mate the cleaning of public spaces during the COVID-19 crisis, a trend that will likely not disappear once the pan- demic ends, reported The Washington Post. While hospitals have been using ultraviolet light disinfection ro- bots for years, a growing number of malls, airports and hotels are also turning to the technology to improve their cleaning pro- cesses. Many analysts and technology firms said they think these robots have gained a permanent foothold in the cleaning and sanitation industry and predict their popularity will continue to grow, according to the Post. "I do believe there has likely been a slight paradigm shift in how people think about hygiene, as well as how corporations and gov- ernments approach sanitation-related issues," Tim Mulrooney, a commercial services equities analyst for the investment bank William Blair, told the publication. While the CDC on April 5 acknowledged that COVID-19 is predom- inantly spread through airborne transmission, the pandemic has elevated Americans' focus on cleanliness, driving demand for the robots, analysts say. n ProMedica hospital adds UV light disinfection robot By Mackenzie Bean P roMedica Toledo (Ohio) Hospital has tapped a sanitizing robot to help disinfect its operating rooms and neurological in- tensive care unit. The robot emits broad spectrum ultraviolet light to quickly destroy microorganisms on hospital surfaces and can deactivate SARS- CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — in two minutes. ProMedica said the robot also uses cloud technology to report such metrics as who last handled the device, how long it ran and which rooms have been disinfected. The robot was funded through ProMedica's risk management grant program, which supports the addition of new technologies to improve patient outcomes and employee safety. n

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