Patient outcomes in academic medical centers: influence of fellowship programs and in-house on-call attending surgeon.
BACKGROUND
There are very few data on characteristics or policies that improve patient outcomes in academic medical institutions. We were interested in 2 such policies or characteristics that are commonly implemented in academic centers: an in-house on-call attending physician policy and the existence of postgraduate medical education.


OBJECTIVE
An in-house attending surgeon on-call policy and the presence of trauma and critical care fellowship programs improve outcomes of critically injured patients.


METHODS
Multicenter cohort study. Two cohorts were analyzed: blunt trauma (n = 601; mortality, 16.0%) and penetrating abdominal trauma (n = 503; mortality, 7.5%).


METHODS
Thirty-one academic level I trauma centers, 10 (32.3%) with in-house on-call policy and 11 (35.5%) with fellowship programs.


METHODS
Mortality, hospital length of stay, and intensive care unit length of stay.


RESULTS
In-house on-call surgeon policy had no impact on mortality or length of hospital or intensive care unit stay for either the blunt or penetrating trauma cohort. However, the presence of fellowship programs was associated with a significant decrease in blunt trauma mortality (odds ratio, 0.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.1-0.8) and a decrease in length of intensive care unit stay (mean difference, 4.7 days; 95% CI, 0.6-8.8 days) and hospital stay (mean difference, 3.2 days; 95% CI, 0.6-5.9 days). There were no significant effects of fellowship programs on penetrating trauma outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
An in-house on-call attending surgeon policy is not associated with improved outcomes. In contrast, presence of a trauma and surgical critical care fellowship program, a potential surrogate marker for an institution that is committed to this specialty interest, is associated with improved outcomes for critically injured patients. An investment in advanced postgraduate medical education has potential benefits in patient care and outcomes.
Arbabi
Saman
S
Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. sarbabi@umich.edu
Jurkovich
Gregory J
GJ
Rivara
Frederick P
FP
Nathens
Avery B
AB
Moore
Maria
M
Demarest
Gerald B
GB
Maier
Ronald V
RV
D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education; D006302:Health Services Research; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016134:Organizational Policy; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014193:Trauma Centers / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D014194:Traumatology / Q000193:education; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality