Shorter Physician Shifts Leads to Fewer ICU Transfers, Medication Errors: New Study
A shortened workweek for medical residents has led to fewer patient transfers to the Intensive Care Unit and fewer interventions by pharmacists to correct medication errors, according to a recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The change in hours for residents was implemented in 2003 by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and designed to prevent medical errors by reducing physician fatigue. The report notes that similar studies on patient outcomes have produced conflicting results. Because medical residents work a shorter shift, patients must be "handed off" to another physician at the shift change, and this change of physicians presents an opportunity for errors or omissions in the communication of important patient information. Researchers have postulated that these communication problems may be a factor in the conflicting results of independent studies. Because the change was made simultaneously to all residency programs at one time, more reliable randomized trials have not been feasible.
Previously on the DC Metro Area Medical Malpractice Law Blog, we have posted articles on:
- Overworked interns and medical errors
- After-hours call screening and medical errors
- Links between misdiagnosis and basic mistakes