Case Study: Mercy Hospital Fort Smith achieves 40% reduction in unnecessary lab tests and $750K savings with Qventus

How Mercy Fort Smith Reduced Unnecessary Lab Test Orders by 40%

Mercy Hospital Fort Smith faced rising costs, longer lengths of stay, and unnecessary lab utilization as it shifted from fee‑for‑service to value‑based care; physicians were ordering certain tests out of habit and needed a data‑driven nudge. To address this, Mercy engaged Qventus and deployed Qventus’ analyticsMD decision recipe to surface variation in test ordering and target unnecessary labs.

Qventus used analyticsMD to identify six lab tests with high physician‑to‑physician variation, and sent weekly recap emails showing individual ordering rates and peer rankings. The Qventus intervention drove a 40% reduction in orders for the six targeted tests within four months, about $750K in estimated lab savings at Mercy Hospital Fort Smith, and broader reductions in test utilization — achieved through increased clinician awareness and behavior change without penalties.

Mercy Hospital Fort Smith

Jeff Reames

Emergency Medicine