A cross-sectional survey of emergency visits suggests that old assumptions about the effects of training on care may be valid.
The federal government subsidizes hospitals that provide residency training, in part because trainees are thought to increase the cost of care. Using data from the 2010 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, investigators compared resource use during emergency department (ED) visits between emergency medicine attending physicians practicing alone and residents supervised by attending physicians.
Compared with attending-only visits, supervised visits were associated with a higher likelihood of hospital admission (adjusted odds ratio, 1.4) and use of advanced imaging (aOR, 1.3), and 1.3 times longer ED length of stay. Blood testing did not differ between types of visits.
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education
Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education
Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals