Assessing the utility of ICU readmissions as a quality metric: an analysis of changes mediated by residency work-hour reforms.

ABSTRACT:

Background

ICU readmissions are associated with increased mortality and costs; however, it is unclear whether these outcomes are caused by readmissions or by residual confounding by illness severity. An assessment of temporal changes in ICU readmission in response to a specific policy change could help disentangle these possibilities. We sought to determine whether ICU readmission rates changed after 2003 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Resident Duty Hours reform ("reform") and whether there were temporally corresponding changes in other ICU outcomes.

Methods

We used a difference-in-differences approach using Project IMPACT (Improved Methods of Patient Information Access of Core Clinical Tasks). Piecewise regression models estimated changes in outcomes i

SUBMITTER: Brown SES 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4347531 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature