Date and Time
January 17, 2007
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Availability
Open to the public
No RSVP required

Speaker
Kanaka Shetty - MD, CHP/PCOR trainee at Stanford University

Abstract

The Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education enacted regulations, effective July 1st, 2003, which limited work hours for all residency programs in the United States but the effect on patient care is unknown. We compare of mortality rates in high risk teaching patients hospitalized before and after July 2003 using a difference-in-differences approach with non-teaching patients as the control group.

In 1,271,742 medical patients examined, the regulations decreased absolute mortality by 0.285% (p=0.02) and relative risk of death by 4.7%, yielding a national estimate of 12,440 deaths prevented annually [95 % CI: 1743 , 23137]. In 238,612 surgical patients, regulations increased absolute mortality by 0.16% but the results were not statistically significant (p=0.40).

We conclude that the July 2003 work hours regulations decreased short-term mortality in high risk medical teaching patients, but did not conclusively affect surgical teaching patients.