Prevalence and Causes of Diagnostic Errors in Hospitalized Patients Under Investigation for COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic required clinicians to care for a disease with evolving characteristics while also adhering to care changes (e.g., physical distancing practices) that might lead to diagnostic errors (DEs). OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of DEs and their causes among patients hospitalized under investigation (PUI) for COVID-19. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort. SETTING: Eight medical centers affiliated with the Hospital Medicine ReEngineering Network (HOMERuN). TARGET POPULATION: Adults hospitalized under investigation (PUI) for COVID-19 infection between February and July 2020. MEASUREMENTS: We randomly selected up to 8 cases per site per month for review, with each case reviewed by two clinicians to determine whether a DE (defined as a missed or delayed diagnosis) occurred, and whether any diagnostic process faults took place. We used bivariable statistics to compare patients with and without DE and multivariable models to determine which process faults or patient factors were associated with DEs. RESULTS: Two hundred and fifty-seven patient charts underwent review, of which 36 (14%) had a diagnostic error. Patients with and without DE were statistically similar in terms of socioeconomic factors, comorbidities, risk factors for COVID-19, and COVID-19 test turnaround time and eventual positivity. Most common diagnostic process faults contributing to DE were problems with clinical assessment, testing choices, history taking, and physical examination (all p < 0.01). Diagnostic process faults associated with policies and procedures related to COVID-19 were not associated with DE risk. Fourteen patients (35.9% of patients with errors and 5.4% overall) suffered harm or death due to diagnostic error. LIMITATIONS: Results are limited by available documentation and do not capture communication between providers and patients. CONCLUSION: Among PUI patients, DEs were common and not associated with pandemic-related care changes, suggesting the importance of more general diagnostic process gaps in error propagation.

The ACLGIM LEAD Program: a Leadership Program for Junior-Mid-Career Faculty.

BACKGROUND: Junior to mid-career medical faculty often move into administrative and leadership roles without formal leadership training. Many national leadership training programs target senior rather than junior faculty. AIM: To address the leadership development needs of junior and mid-career faculty. SETTING: Sessions at annual meetings combined with online learning, independent work, and leadership coaching. PARTICIPANTS: 79 junior-mid-career general internal medicine (GIM) faculty enrolled in five consecutive annual cohorts from 2014 to 2018. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: LEAD scholars participate in a full-day anchor session followed by selected workshops during the annual meeting. They then participate in monthly online sessions, complete a project, interview a senior leader, and receive leadership coaching from senior GIM faculty. PROGRAM EVALUATION: Post-program evaluation indicated the LEAD program was effective in helping participants understand what it means to be a good leader (93%, 37/40), become a more reflective leader (90%, 35/39), and apply principles of leadership to increase effectiveness in their role (88%, 34/39). DISCUSSION: LEAD provides junior-mid-career medical faculty an opportunity to learn effective leadership skills and build a network.

Establishing an Orthopedic Excess Hospital Days in Acute Care Program.

BACKGROUND: Excess days in acute care (EDAC) after total joint arthroplasty (TJA) represent a large economic burden. We developed an Orthopedic EDAC program that triages TJA patients to the appropriate service line (orthopedic vs medicine) and level of care (observation vs inpatient) on re-presentation. We developed and used evidence-based protocols for the treatment of TJA patients who are rehospitalized. METHODS: We defined Orthopedic EDAC as the length of stay (LOS) during readmission and observation stays. Our target population included TJA and revision TJA patients. Patients between April 2017 and September 2017 and between October 2017 and September 2018 were defined as pre-implementation and post-implementation of the Orthopedic EDAC program, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 2,662 patients underwent TJA and revision TJA during the pre-implementation and post-implementation periods. Twenty-three patients were managed on observation status during the study period. Readmissions decreased from 49 (6.1%) during pre-implementation to 37 (2.0%) during post-implementation (P = .004). By design, more rehospitalized patients were on the orthopedic surgery service after implementation of the Orthopedic EDAC program (n = 49; 70%) versus before (n = 22; 35%; P = .028). EDAC LOS decreased from 7.75 days to 4.73 days (P = .005). CONCLUSION: In this single-center, before-after pilot of a novel Orthopedic EDAC program, we demonstrated a reduction in readmissions and Orthopedic EDAC LOS, as well as improved continuity of care for TJA patients on representation.

Race, Bundled Payment Policy, and Discharge Destination After TKA: The Experience of an Urban Academic Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) provides good clinical outcomes for the treatment of end-stage osteoarthritis; however, discharge destination after TKA has major implications on postoperative adverse outcomes and readmissions. With the initiation of Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI), it is unclear how racial disparities in discharge destination after TKA will be affected by the new bundled payment for TKA. METHODS: Bundled Payments for Care Improvement was implemented in July 01, 2014, at the University of Pennsylvania. We compared differences during early implementation (July 1, 2014, to, March 30, 2016) and during late policy implementation (April 1, 2016, to February 28, 2017) in patient characteristics (including race: African American [AA], white, and other race), discharge destination (skilled nursing facility [SNF], inpatient rehabilitation facility, home, home with home health, or other), and outcomes. RESULTS: We identified 2276 patients who underwent TKA (43.8% AA, 48.2% white, and 8.0% other race). African American patients were more likely to be discharged to SNF as opposed to home than white patients both during the early BPCI (AA: 53.0%, n = 320; white: 32.4%, n = 210, P < .05) and late BPCI implementation (AA: 44.4%, n = 169, white: 26.9%, n = 120, P < .05), though all races showed trends to decreasing SNF use during the late BPCI implementation. DISCUSSION: There were no significant differences in readmissions, length of stay, mortality, or intensive care unit days during early and late implementation of BPCI or when AA patients were compared to white patients. CONCLUSION: We found no significant changes in racial variations in discharge destination and outcomes after elective TKA. Bundled Payments for Care Improvement has encouraged better preoperative preparation of patients and discharge planning; however, payment reforms alone might not be sufficient to address variation in post-op management following elective surgery.

Impact of adding additional providers to resident workload and the resident experience on a medical consultation rotation.

BACKGROUND: Excellence in Graduate Medical Education requires the right clinical environment with an appropriate workload where residents have enough patients to gain proficiency in medicine with optimal time for reflection. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has focused more on work hours rather than workload; however, high resident workload has been associated with lower resident participation in education and fatigue-related errors. Recognizing the potential risks associated with high resident workload and being mindful of the costs of reducing resident workload, we sought to reduce residents' workload by adding an advanced practice provider (APP) to the surgical comanagement service (SCM) and study its effect on resident satisfaction and perceived educational value of the rotation. METHODS: In Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 and 2015, an additional faculty member was added to the SCM rotation. In FY 2014, the faculty member was a staff physician, and in FY 2015, the faculty member was an APP.. Resident workload was assessed using billing data. We measured residents' perceptions of the rotation using an anonymous electronic survey tool. We compared FY2014-2015 data to the baseline FY2013. RESULTS: The number of patients seen per resident per day decreased from 8.0(SD 3.3) in FY2013 to 5.0(SD 1.9) in FY2014 (p < 0.001) and 5.7(SD 2.0) in FY2015 (p < 0.001). A higher proportion of residents reported "just right" patient volume (64.4%, 91.7%, 96.7% in FY2013, 2014, 2015 respectively p < 0.001), meeting curricular goals (79.9%, 95.0%, 97.2%, in FY2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively p < 0.001), and overall educational value of the rotation (40.0%, 72.2%, 72.6% in FY2013, 2014, 2015 respectively, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Decreasing resident workload through adding clinical faculty (both staff physician and APPs) was associated with improvements on resident perceived educational value and clinical experience of a medical consultation rotation.

The effects of advanced age on primary total knee arthroplasty: a meta-analysis and systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Total knee arthroplasty is an effective treatment when nonsurgical treatments fail, but it is associated with risk of complications which may be increased in advanced age. The purpose of this study was to quantify age-related differences in perioperative morbidity and mortality after total knee arthroplasty through systematic review of existing literature. METHODS: PubMed, the Cochrane database of systematic reviews, Scopus, and clinicaltrials.gov, were queried for relevant studies that compared primary total knee arthroplasty outcomes of mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE) and functional status, of geriatric patients (>75 years old) with a younger control group (<65 years old). Pertinent journals and reference lists were hand searched. Eligibility criteria included all articles except case reports, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews. Two authors independently extracted data from each paper. Article quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. RESULTS: Twenty-two studies were included. Geriatric patients had higher rates of mortality, MI, DVT, and length of stay in older compared to younger patients, however the absolute magnitude of these increases were small. The increase in mortality may have reflected decreased life expectancy in the geriatric populations as opposed to mortality specifically due perioperative risk. There were no differences in PE incidence and improvement in pain and functional status was equal in older and younger patients. Existing studies were limited by non-randomized patient selection, as well as variation in definitions and methodology. CONCLUSIONS: Existing data supports offering primary total knee arthroplasty to select geriatric patients, although the risk of complications may be increased. Much of the data was of poor quality. Future prospective studies are needed to better identify risks and benefits of total knee arthroplasty so that patients and surgeons can make informed decisions.

The Effect of Advancing Age on Total Joint Replacement Outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To describe age-related differences in outcomes among older adults undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). DESIGN: Retrospective study. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1792 patients who underwent primary THA or TKA at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics between 2010 and 2013 were identified in the University HealthSystem Consortium Database and University of Iowa Orthopedics Joint Replacement Registry. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hospital length of stay (LOS), 30-day readmission rate, in-hospital mortality, number of days admitted to intensive care unit (ICU discharge disposition), in-hospital complications (pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, wound infection, hemorrhage, sepsis, or myocardial infarction), quality of life (measured using Short-Form 36 [SF-36]), discharge disposition (home, home with home health, nursing home, inpatient rehabilitation, transfer to another acute care hospital, and dead), and total patient level observed hospital cost (based on hospital charge information from each revenue code and estimated labor costs). Outcomes were compared in patients stratified by age and categorized by decade (ie, ≤50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80, and ≥81). RESULTS: A total of 871 THAs and 921 TKAs were performed. The mean age of our cohort was 60.5 years and 56.1% were women. In-hospital complication rates and ICU utilization progressively increased with increasing age. There was also a higher likelihood of skilled nursing facility placement and longer LOS. There was no increase in 30-day readmissions, mortality, or total cost. Improvements in patient reported outcomes (SF-36) scores were similar for all age-groups. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to younger patients, older THA and TKA recipients were more likely to experience postoperative complications, admission to the ICU, discharge to a skilled care facility, and had longer hospital LOS. Improvements in patient-related outcomes were similar across all age-groups. These findings may be helpful when counseling older patients regarding elective total joint arthroplasty.