Impact of Resident Workload and Handoff Training on Patient Outcomes

• Published in: The American journal of medicine Vol. 125; no. 1; pp. 104 - 110
• Main Authors: Mueller, Stephanie K., MD, Call, Stephanie A., MD, MSPH, McDonald, Furman S., MD, MPH, Halvorsen, Andrew J., MS, Schnipper, Jeffrey L., MD, MPH, Hicks, LeRoi S., MD, MPH
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 2012; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: Clinical outcomes; Hospitals - statistics & numerical data; Internal Medicine; Internship and Residency - standards; Medical residencies; Outcome Assessment (Health Care); Patient Care - standards; Patients; Quality of care; Regulatory agencies; Teaching hospitals; Work load; Workload; Workloads
• ISSN: 0002-9343; 1555-7162
• DOI: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2011.09.005

The landscape of medical education changed substantially in 2003 when the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) first implemented its resident duty-hour restriction. Since this implementation, little is known about the amount of continued variation of resident workload between residency programs and the effect of workload on patient outcomes. Several studies have examined the association of the ACGME changes with patient safety outcomes, mortality, quality of care, and specialty care utilization within the hospital. Results of these studies have overall shown improved or equivalent care since the duty-hour implementation, although many of these studies are single institution and lack generalizability. Mueller et al discuss the impact of resident workload and handoff training on patient outcomes.