Jacob Jameson, third year doctoral student in Health Policy, and CHDS faculty Soroush Saghafian published a study examining how physician variation in batch versus sequential test ordering in the emergency department (ED) affects both patient care and operational efficiency. Analyzing data from over 43,000 patient encounters at the Mayo Clinic of Arizona ED, the study reveals that being randomly assigned to a physician with a high tendency to batch is associated with a longer length of stay, increased diagnostic imaging, and a reduced likelihood of a 72‑hour return with admission.
This analysis was conducted in collaboration with Harvard Business School, Professor Robert Huckman, and Dr. Nicole Hodgson, an emergency medicine specialist at Mayo Clinic. By leveraging Mayo’s algorithm for the randomized assignment of patients to physicians, the authors constructed an instrumental variable to estimate the causal effect of being assigned to a high‐batching physician.
These findings offer valuable insights into the trade‑offs inherent in ED diagnostic practices and suggest that refining test‑ordering guidelines could help balance thorough patient evaluations with the need to maintain efficient patient flow. In a current working paper, they continue to explore how these results generalize across EDs.
Learn more: Read the article, Variation in Batch Ordering of Imaging Tests in the Emergency Department and the Impact on Care Delivery
Related news: Jameson 2023 INFORMS Video Finalist
Related news: CHDS at INFORMS 2024