Compliance With Duty Hour Requirements Remains High Four Years After Introduction Of Common Standards, USA
The ACGME recently released its summary of duty hour compliance for academic year 2006-07. The data was gathered from citation patterns for 2,589 programs (out of the approximately 8,500 ACGME-accredited programs) that underwent reviews during the academic year. Data used in the review process include the ACGME's annual confidential online survey of residents, review of documentation related to residents' duty hour schedules, and interviews with residents, faculty, and program and institutional leaders.
The summary includes the following highlights:
- Of the programs reviewed during the academic year, 8.8% received one or more citations for duty hour violations. This represented a slight increase over the 7.9% of programs reviewed in academic year 2005-06 that received duty hour citations.
- Duty hour citations constituted 2.9% of all citations ACGME review committees issued to programs in academic year 2006-07, about the same percentage of citations given for duty hour violations in the previous year. The majority of citations given to programs were for non-compliance with educational requirements, such as standards for curriculum, rotations and opportunities for scholarship and research.
- Of the 258 duty hour citations issued in academic year 2006-07, 59 citations were for violations of the requirement limiting residents' continuous duty hours to 24 hours plus up to six additional hours for transfer of patient care and didactic activities. Other common duty hour citations were for violations of the 80-hour weekly limit on duty hours, averaged over four weeks; violations of the standard requiring that residents have one day free in seven; and violations of the requirement that residents have at least 10 hours off between duty shifts.
- Ninety-four percent of the 58,602 residents surveyed in 2006-07 (representing 55% of all residents) in confidential online questionnaires responded that they always or usually meet the ACGME's requirements for duty hour limits.
- The Council received 10 complaints from residents about duty hour violations in academic year 2006-07, which constituted 23% of the 44 resident complaints filed during the academic year.
The summary report is posted on the ACGME's website here.
The complete duty hour regulations can be viewed here.
Because duty hours are just one of many factors that affect the learning environment for residents, the ACGME established a Committee on Innovation in the Learning Environment, which is charged with gathering and reviewing information on resident learning and encouraging innovation in residency programs. In September, the ACGME adopted the committee's first report, which recommended that the ACGME analyze the impact of duty hours on resident learning, patient care, and resident well-being. The report also recommended that the ACGME develop and support pilot projects in residency programs to refine the duty hour standards.
The ACGME is a private, non-profit organization that accredits 8,200 residency programs in 126 specialties and subspecialties that educate 103,000 residents. Its mission is to improve the quality of health care in the United States by assessing and advancing the quality of resident physicians' education.
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
Conformitatea cu cerinþele de datoria de orã rãmâne ridicatã dupã patru ani de la introducerea unor standarde comune, SUA - Compliance With Duty Hour Requirements Remains High Four Years After Introduction Of Common Standards, USA - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate