Communication errors during shift-to-shift handoffs are a leading cause of preventable adverse events. Nevertheless, handoff skills are variably taught at medical schools. The authors administered questionnaires on handoffs to interns during orientation. Questions focused on medical school handoff education, experiences, and perceptions. The majority (546/718) reported having some form of education on handoffs during medical school, with 48% indicating this was 1 hour or less. Most respondents (98%) reported that they believe patients experience adverse events because of inadequate handoffs, and more than one third had witnessed a patient safety issue. Results show that medical school graduates are not receiving adequate handoff training. Yet graduates are expected to conduct safe patient handoffs at the start of residency. Given that ineffective handoffs pose a significant patient safety risk, medical school graduates should have a baseline competency in handoff skills. This will require medical schools to develop, implement, and study handoff education.
Background and Objectives: New standards announced in 2017 could increase the failure rate for Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS). The purpose of this study was to identify student performance metrics associated with risk of failing. Methods: Data for 1,041 graduates of one medical school from 2014 through 2017 were analyzed, including 30 (2.9%) failures. Metrics included Medical College Admission Test, United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1, and clerkship National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Subject Examination scores; faculty ratings in six clerkships; and scores on an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Bivariate statistics and regression were used to estimate risk of failing. Results: Those failing had lower Step 1 scores, NBME scores, faculty ratings, and OSCE scores (P<.02). Students with four or more low ratings were more likely to fail compared to those with fewer low ratings (relative risk [RR], 12.76, P<.0001). Logistic regression revealed other risks: low surgery NBME scores (RR 3.75, P=.02), low pediatrics NBME scores (RR 3.67, P=.02), low ratings in internal medicine (RR 3.42, P=.004), and low OSCE Communication/Interpersonal Skills (RR 2.55, P=.02). Conclusions: Certain medical student performance metrics are associated with risk of failing Step 2 CS. It is important to clarify these and advise students accordingly.
Introduction: As providers of a large portion of the care delivered at academic health centers, medical trainees have a unique perspective on medical error. Despite data suggesting that errors in physical examination (PE) can lead to adverse patient events, we are not aware of previous studies exploring medical trainee perceptions of the relationship between patient harm and inadequate PE. We investigated whether first-year residents at a large tertiary care academic medical center perceive inadequate PE as a cause of adverse patient events. Methods: As part of a larger survey given to incoming interns at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital orientation (2014-2018), the authors examined the perceptions of inadequate PE and adverse patient events. We also examined other details related to PE educational experiences and self-reported PE proficiency. The survey was developed a priori by the authors and assessed for face validity by expert faculty. Results: Ninety-eight percent of respondents (695/706) reported that inadequate PE leads to adverse patient events. Seventy percent (492/706) believe that inadequate PE causes adverse events in up to 10% of all patient encounters, and 30% (214/706) reported that inadequate PE causes adverse events in greater than 10% of patient encounters. Forty-five percent of surveyed interns (319/715) had witnessed a patient safety issue as a result of an inadequate PE. Only 2% of surveyed interns (11/706) did not think patients experience adverse events because of inadequate PEs. Ninety percent of surveyed interns (643/712) reported feeling proficient in performing PE. From 2015 to 2018, 80% (486/604) indicated that they received “just enough” PE education. Conclusion: Nearly all incoming interns surveyed at our institution believe that inadequate PE leads to adverse patient events, and 45% have witnessed an adverse patient event due to inadequate PE. We urge clinicians, educators, and health care administrators to consider enhanced PE skills training as an important and viable approach to medical error reduction, and as such, we propose a 5-pronged intervention for improvement, including a redesign of PE curricula, development of checklist-based assessment methods, ongoing skills training and assessment of physicians-in-practice, rigorous study of PE maneuvers, and research into whether enhanced PE skills improve patient outcomes.
To assess clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of human recombinant interferon-␣2b in neonates with intrauterine infections in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). METHODS: We observed 151 neonates (gestational age (GA) 25-40 weeks) with severe intrauterine infections in NICU. Group 1 included 94 neonates with severe intrauterine infections treated with interferon-␣2b, 150 000 IU per suppositorium twice a day per rectum during 7 days in addition to combined antibacterial and supportive therapy; group 2 consisted of 57 neonates under standard treatment without additional immunotherapy. Initially neonates of both groups were comparable. Effectiveness data were used to populate a decision model to estimate the cost-effectiveness of interferon-␣2b and standard therapy. Direct and indirect costs were measured. Published cost data were applied to assess differences in treatment costs. RESULTS: Low mitogen-induced interferon-␣ production (Ͻ12 pg/ml) was detected in 25% [18%; 33%] of neonates with severe intrauterine infections, its association with significantly higher incidence of pneumonia (Ͻ0.001), necrotizing enterocolitis (Ͻ0.001) and urinary tract infections (ϭ0.026) was proved. Administration of human recombinant interferon-␣2b to neonates, suffering from severe infections, provides improvement of mitogen-induced production of interferon-␣, reduces hospital length of stay and mortality rates (ϭ0.009, OR ϭ 0.21 [0.05; 0.67], RR ϭ 0.26 [0.07; 0.69], NNTϭ8 [4; 29]). Interferon-␣2b administration for severe early-onset neonatal infections decreases direct costs per patient by 20% (direct costs per patient € 6,802 and € 8,549 for interferon-␣2b and control groups, respectively). Interferon-␣2b administration for intrauterine infections leads to substantial cost savings (up to € 69,247 per patient). CONCLUSIONS: Immunotherapy with interferon-␣2b is a cost-effective intervention improves the clinical course and outcome in case of severe intrauterine infections.
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