AHRQ Patient Safety Network ► Association of the 2011 ACGME resident duty hour reform with postoperative patient outcomes in surgical specialties.

AHRQ Patient Safety Network





Association of the 2011 ACGME resident duty hour reform with postoperative patient outcomes in surgical specialties.

Rajaram R, Chung JW, Cohen ME, et al. J Am Coll Surg. 2015 Jul 8; [Epub ahead of print].

This pre-post examination of data from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program found no differences in serious morbidity or mortality within 30 days following surgery across multiple surgical specialties in the 2 years after 2011 ACGME duty hour reform, compared to the last year prior to reform. Although duty hour reform does not appear to be a high-yield strategy for improving surgical outcomes, concerns about worsening procedural skills and increased handoffs leading to patient harm were not borne out in the current data.

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