The Effect of Intensive Inpatient Attending Supervision on Medical Errors, Patient Safety and Resident Education

NCT ID: NCT03318198

Last Updated: 2017-10-23

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

134 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2015-09-30

Study Completion Date

2017-04-30

Brief Summary

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Randomized cross over trial investigating the effect of intensive attending supervision of residents caring for inpatients on the medical service on both patient safety and educational outcomes. Hypothesis: increased attending supervision would improve patient safety and resident education.

Detailed Description

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Background While the relationship between resident work hours and patient safety has been extensively studied, little research has evaluated the role of attending supervision on patient safety and education.

Investigators conducted a 9-month randomized, cross-over trial on an inpatient medicine teaching service where 22 faculty provided either: 1) direct supervision where attendings joined work rounds on established (previously admitted) patients or 2) standard supervision where attendings were available, but did not join work rounds. Each faculty member participated in both arms in random order. The primary safety outcome was rate of medical errors. Secondary safety outcomes included deaths and transfers to the intensive care unit. Resident education was evaluated via a time motion study to assess resident participation on rounds and surveys to measure resident and attending educational ratings.

Conditions

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Focus of Study is on Graduate Medical Education Supervision

Keywords

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Graduate Medical Education Attending Supervision of Residents Patient Safety

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

CROSSOVER

We conducted a 9-month randomized, cross-over trial on an inpatient medicine teaching service where 22 faculty provided either: 1) direct supervision where attendings joined work rounds on established (previously admitted) patients or 2) standard supervision where attendings were available, but did not join work rounds. Each faculty member participated in both arms in random order. The primary safety outcome was rate of medical errors. Resident education was evaluated via a time motion study to assess resident participation on rounds and surveys to measure resident and attending educational ratings.
Primary Study Purpose

OTHER

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Intervention Arm

Attendings on the interventional arm attended daily work rounds with the resident teams in addition to established work rounds on the previously admitted patients on the care team.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Enhanged Attending Supervision

Intervention Type OTHER

Attendings were randomized at the start of the study to begin in the enhanced supervision arm where they attended resident work rounds. They then crossed over to the control arm where they did not attend work rounds. The outcomes were assessed between the two periods during which the attending participated in the study; attending work rounds vs. not attending work rounds.

Control Arm

Attendings crossed over to the control arm in which they did not attend work rounds with the team and only say new admissions with the resident team. This was usual care.

Group Type PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Standard of Care

Intervention Type OTHER

Attendings participated directly in new patient rounds but did not see patients previously known to the team with the residents.

Interventions

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Enhanged Attending Supervision

Attendings were randomized at the start of the study to begin in the enhanced supervision arm where they attended resident work rounds. They then crossed over to the control arm where they did not attend work rounds. The outcomes were assessed between the two periods during which the attending participated in the study; attending work rounds vs. not attending work rounds.

Intervention Type OTHER

Standard of Care

Attendings participated directly in new patient rounds but did not see patients previously known to the team with the residents.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Teaching attending on the medicine service at Massachusetts General Hospital
* Resident physician on the medical service at Massachusetts General Hospital

Exclusion Criteria

* Faculty unable to complete both control and intervention arms of the study.
* Faculty unwilling to participate
* Residents unwilling to participate
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Massachusetts General Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Kathleen Finn

Inpatient Associate Program Director

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Kathleen Finn, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Massachusetts General Hospital

References

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Biondi EA, Varade WS, Garfunkel LC, Lynn JF, Craig MS, Cellini MM, Shone LP, Harris JP, Baldwin CD. Discordance between resident and faculty perceptions of resident autonomy: can self-determination theory help interpret differences and guide strategies for bridging the divide? Acad Med. 2015 Apr;90(4):462-71. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000522.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25340363 (View on PubMed)

Starmer AJ, O'Toole JK, Rosenbluth G, Calaman S, Balmer D, West DC, Bale JF Jr, Yu CE, Noble EL, Tse LL, Srivastava R, Landrigan CP, Sectish TC, Spector ND; I-PASS Study Education Executive Committee. Development, implementation, and dissemination of the I-PASS handoff curriculum: A multisite educational intervention to improve patient handoffs. Acad Med. 2014 Jun;89(6):876-84. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000264.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 24871238 (View on PubMed)

Finn KM, Metlay JP, Chang Y, Nagarur A, Yang S, Landrigan CP, Iyasere C. Effect of Increased Inpatient Attending Physician Supervision on Medical Errors, Patient Safety, and Resident Education: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2018 Jul 1;178(7):952-959. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.1244.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 29868877 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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2015D005158

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id