Dataset Information

Cost implications of ACGME's 2011 changes to resident duty hours and the training environment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In July 2011, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) will implemented stricter duty-hour limits and related changes to the training environment. This may affect preventable adverse event (PAE) rates.

Objectives

To estimate direct costs under various implementation approaches, and examine net costs to teaching hospitals and cost-effectiveness to society across a range of hypothetical changes in PAEs.

Design

A decision-analytical model represented direct costs and PAE rates, mortality, and costs.

Data sources

Published literature and publicly available data.

Target population

Patients admitted to hospitals with ACGME-accredited programs.

Time horizon

One year.

Perspectives

All teaching hospitals, major teaching hospitals, society.

Intervention

ACGME's 2011 Common Program Requirements.

Outcome measures

Direct annual costs (all accredited hospitals), net cost (major teaching hospitals), cost per death averted (society). RESULTS OF BASE-ANALYSIS: Nationwide, duty-hour changes would cost $177 million annually if interns maintain current productivity, vs. up to $982 million if they transfer work to a mixture of substitutes; training-environment changes will cost $204 million. If PAEs decline by 7.2-25.8%, net costs to major teaching hospitals will be zero. If PAEs fall by 3%, the cost to society per death averted would be -$523,000 (95%-confidence interval: -$1.82 million to $685,000) to $2.44 million ($271,000 to $6.91 million). If PAEs rise, the policy will be cost-increasing for teaching hospitals and society.

Results of sensitivity analysis

The total direct annual cost nationwide would be up to $1.34 billion using nurse practitioners/physician assistants, $1.64 billion using attending physicians, $820 million hiring additional residents, vs. 1.42 billion using mixed substitutes.

Limitations

The effect on PAEs is unknown. Data were limited for some model parameters.

Conclusion

Implementation decisions greatly affect the cost. Unless PAEs decline substantially, teaching hospitals will lose money. If PAEs decline modestly, the requirements might be cost-saving or cost-effective to society.

SUBMITTER: Nuckols TK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3270247 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Cost implications of ACGME's 2011 changes to resident duty hours and the training environment.

Nuckols Teryl K TK Escarce José J JJ

Journal of general internal medicine 20110721 2

<h4>Background</h4>In July 2011, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) will implemented stricter duty-hour limits and related changes to the training environment. This may affect preventable adverse event (PAE) rates.<h4>Objectives</h4>To estimate direct costs under various implementation approaches, and examine net costs to teaching hospitals and cost-effectiveness to society across a range of hypothetical changes in PAEs.<h4>Design</h4>A decision-analytical model rep ...[more]

PMID: 21779949

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Project description:IntroductionIn 2011, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) implemented new Common Program Requirements to regulate duty hours of resident physicians, with three goals: improved patient safety, quality of resident education and quality of life for trainees. We sought to assess Internal Medicine program director (IMPD) perceptions of the 2011 Common Program Requirements in July 2012, one year following implementation of the new standards.MethodsA cross-sectional study of all IMPDs at ACGME-accredited programs in the United States (N?=?381) was performed using a 32-question, self-administered survey. Contact information was identified for 323 IMPDs. Three individualized emails were sent to each director over a 6-week period, requesting participation in the survey. Outcomes measured included approval of duty hours regulations, as well as perceptions of changes in graduate medical education and patient care resulting from the revised ACGME standards.ResultsA total of 237 surveys were returned (73% response rate). More than half of the IMPDs (52%) reported "overall" approval of the 2011 duty hour regulations, with greater than 70% approval of all individual regulations except senior resident daily duty periods (49% approval) and 16-hour intern shifts (17% approval). Although a majority feel resident quality of life has improved (55%), most IMPDs believe that resident education (60%) is worse. A minority report that quality (8%) or safety (11%) of patient care has improved.ConclusionOne year after implementation of new ACGME duty hour requirements, IMPDs report overall approval of the standards, but strong disapproval of 16-hour shift limits for interns. Few program directors perceive that the duty hour restrictions have resulted in better care for patients or education of residents. Although resident quality of life seems improved, most IMPDs report that their own workload has increased. Based on these results, the intended benefits of duty hour regulations may not yet have been realized.

Project description:Patient outcomes associated with the 2011 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) duty hour reforms have not been evaluated at a national level.To evaluate the association of the 2011 ACGME duty hour reforms with mortality and readmissions.Observational study of Medicare patient admissions (6,384,273 admissions from 2,790,356 patients) to short-term, acute care, nonfederal hospitals (n?=?3104) with principal medical diagnoses of acute myocardial infarction, stroke, gastrointestinal bleeding, or congestive heart failure or a Diagnosis Related Group classification of general, orthopedic, or vascular surgery. Of the hospitals, 96 (3.1%) were very major teaching, 138 (4.4%) major teaching, 442 (14.2%) minor teaching, 443 (14.3%) very minor teaching, and 1985 (64.0%) nonteaching.Resident-to-bed ratio as a continuous measure of hospital teaching intensity.Change in 30-day all-location mortality and 30-day all-cause readmission, comparing patients in more intensive relative to less intensive teaching hospitals before (July 1, 2009-June 30, 2011) and after (July 1, 2011-June 30, 2012) duty hour reforms, adjusting for patient comorbidities, time trends, and hospital site.In the 2 years before duty hour reforms, there were 4,325,854 admissions with 288,422 deaths and 602,380 readmissions. In the first year after the reforms, accounting for teaching hospital intensity, there were 2,058,419 admissions with 133,547 deaths and 272,938 readmissions. There were no significant postreform differences in mortality accounting for teaching hospital intensity for combined medical conditions (odds ratio [OR], 1.00; 95% CI, 0.96-1.03), combined surgical categories (OR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.94-1.04), or any of the individual medical conditions or surgical categories. There were no significant postreform differences in readmissions for combined medical conditions (OR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.97-1.02) or combined surgical categories (OR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.98-1.03). For the medical condition of stroke, there were higher odds of readmissions in the postreform period (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.001-1.13). However, this finding was not supported by sensitivity analyses and there were no significant postreform differences for readmissions for any other individual medical condition or surgical category.Among Medicare beneficiaries, there were no significant differences in the change in 30-day mortality rates or 30-day all-cause readmission rates for those hospitalized in more intensive relative to less intensive teaching hospitals in the year after implementation of the 2011 ACGME duty hour reforms compared with those hospitalized in the 2 years before implementation.

Project description:BackgroundSpecialization in medical professions is considered a challenging and intensive period due to the number and sequence of duty hours. Considering the effect of duty hours on residents, both physically and mentally, several models have been created over the years to address this complexity. The two main model schools aim to decrease the duty hour length and night shift (i.e., night float, NF) frequency. In recent years, duty hours have become a source of disagreement and frustration among the medical community, both residents and attendings. A possible change in the duty hour structure may affect residents in terms of several parameters, such as patient safety, the well-being of the physician and the degree of training of the resident.Purpose(1) To investigate medical residents' perspectives on their duty hours utilizing online questionnaires on their effect on the work environment and (2) to assess residents' preferences in relation to the suggested shortened shift and NF models.MethodsQuestionnaires were emailed to all residents (main residents and fellows) at an Israeli tertiary medical center between March 2020 and April 2020. Questions were scored from 1 (disagree) to 5 (fully agree).ResultsTwo hundred and sixty residents (227 main residents, 43 fellows) participated in the study (40% female). The score for the degree of balance between work and personal life was low (0.9±1.99). The shortened shift model was perceived by the residents as more compatible with a balanced lifestyle than the NF model (3.77 ± 1.20 and 3.14 ± 1.26, respectively, P < 0.0001). Neither model was considered to risk impairing professional training (2.33 ± 1.45 and 2.47 ± 1.25, respectively, P = 0.12). Overall, 74% of the residents were not willing to lower their income if the decision were made to change models, and 56% were not willing to increase the number of shifts.ConclusionsThere is agreement among residents that shortening shift hours to 16 h would have a positive effect on the balance between personal life and work. In the eyes of residents, the change would not impair their training during residency.

Dataset Information

Cost implications of ACGME's 2011 changes to resident duty hours and the training environment.

Background

Objectives

Design

Data sources

Target population

Time horizon

Perspectives

Intervention

Outcome measures

Results of sensitivity analysis

Limitations

Conclusion

Publications

Cost implications of ACGME's 2011 changes to resident duty hours and the training environment.

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