title: The impact of consultant-delivered multidisciplinary inpatient medical care on patient outcomes.
abstract: Consultant-delivered care has been shown to improve outcomes for acute medical patients. However, the ideal composition of a medical team to support consultant-delivered care is not clear and little is known about the effect of continuing consultant-delivered care until the patient is discharged. Between December 2011 and April 2012, 260 general medical patients requiring inpatient care were managed by a consultant-delivered multidisciplinary team (CD-MDT) and 150 patients by a standard consultant-led team of trainee doctors. The length of hospital stay was significantly lower for patients managed by a CD-MDT than for those managed by a standard team (4-5 days vs 7 days, p<0.001). No difference between the groups was seen for readmission rates, patient safety or mortality. In conclusion, a CD-MDT is a safe and effective model of inpatient medical care and is associated with a shorter length of hospital stay.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University Hospital Southampton, UK. Richard.Fielding@nuth.nhs.uk
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fielding
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kause
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arnell-Cullen
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sandeman
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000592:standards; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000592:standards*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Consultant-delivered care; general internal medicine; multidisciplinary team
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