Association between physician continuity of care and patient outcomes in clinical teaching units: a cohort analysis

CMAJ Open. 2023 Jan 17;11(1):E40-E44. doi: 10.9778/cmajo.20220149. Print 2023 Jan-Feb.ABSTRACTBACKGROUND: Hospital-based clinical teaching units (CTUs) are supervised by rotating attending physicians. Physician hand-offs in other contexts have been associated with worse patient outcomes, presumably through communication gaps. We aimed to determine the association between attending physician hand-offs on CTUs and patient outcomes including escalation of care, readmission and mortality.METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, multicentre cohort study using data from 3 tertiary care hospitals in Calgary between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2017. We included hospital admissions in the top 10 case-mix groups. Our exposure variable was the number of attending physicians seen by a patient. Outcome measures were admission to intensive care unit (ICU); inpatient 7- and 30-day mortality; and 7- and 30-day readmission rate. We used multivariable regression statistical models adjusted for patient age, sex, length of stay, Charlson Comorbidity Index, case-mix groups, senior resident presence, team handovers and team transfers.RESULTS: Our cohort included 4324 unique patients. There were no significant differences in the incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of admission to ICU, inpatient 7- and 30-day mortality, and 7- and 30-day readmission rates among 1 or 2 physicians. However, we noted a significant increase in 30-day readmission rate (IRR 1.37, 95% confidence interval 1.05-1.78) in patients who h...
Source: cmaj - Category: General Medicine Authors: Source Type: research