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Out-of-hours weekend scintigraphy: assessing/predicting the need
A Notghi1, A P Mills, L K Harding
1City Hospital NHS Trust, Birmingham, UK.
Implementing weekend nuclear medicine services, including on-call lung scans, can be cost-effective. Savings from improved patient discharge and bed availability can fund these essential services.
Area of Science:
- Nuclear Medicine
- Radiology
- Healthcare Management
Background:
- Assessing the operational and financial viability of extended nuclear medicine services.
- Evaluating the impact of weekend on-call services for diagnostic imaging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the cost-effectiveness of weekend on-call services for lung scans.
- To compare the impact of half-day (Saturday or Sunday) versus full weekend on-call services.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 2 years of data (1992-1994) on lung scan results.
- Evaluation of patient admission and discharge patterns.
- Cost-benefit analysis of different on-call service models.
Main Results:
- Weekend on-call services for lung scans can be financially justified.
- Savings from enhanced patient flow can offset service costs.
- Costs range from £3000/year for a single session to £10,000/year for a full weekend.
Conclusions:
- Weekend on-call nuclear medicine services are a potentially cost-effective model.
- Earmarking savings for the nuclear medicine department is crucial for sustainability.
- The overall cost to the hospital is negligible, suggesting feasibility.
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