Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, JAMA / 02.04.2014
Hospital Costs, Length of Stay Increase with Workload of Hospitalists
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Daniel J. Elliott, M.D., MSCE, FACP
Associate Chair of Research
Department of Medicine and Research Scholar
Value Institute, Christiana Care Health System
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Elliott: The optimal workload for hospitalists has been a question since the earliest days of hospital medicine. However there has been very little empirical evidence to understand the relationship between workload and outcomes.
The objective of our study was to determine the association of daily workload for hospitalists on the efficiency, quality, and cost of care. We analyzed data from a single private practice hospitalist group at a community-based health system between February 2008 and January 2011. Our research showed that both length of stay and cost increased for patients as hospitalist workload increased.
At the same time, our research showed that workload did not affect patient satisfaction as measured by HCAHPS scores or quality and safety outcomes including admissions, rapid response team activation and mortality.
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