Gender Bias in Risk Management Reports Involving Physicians in Training - A Retrospective Qualitative Study.

OBJECTIVE: Gender bias, which contributes to burnout and attrition of female medical trainees, may manifest as disparate workplace evaluations. Here, we explore gender-based differences in perceived competence and professionalism as described in an institutional electronic risk management reporting system. DESIGN: In this retrospective qualitative study, recurring themes were identified from anonymous entries reported to an electronic institutional risk management database from July 2014 to July 2015, and from July 2019 to July 2020 using inductive methods. This electronic system is often used by hospital staff to document complaints against physicians under the pretext of poor patient care, regardless of whether an adverse event occurred. Two individuals independently coded entries. Themes were determined from event indicator codes (EIC) using Delphi methodology and compared between gender and specialty using bivariate statistics. SETTING: A multi-center integrated healthcare delivery system. PARTICIPANTS: Risk management entries pertaining to physician trainees by hospital staff as written submissions to the institution's electronic risk management reporting system. Main outcomes included themes defined as: (1) lack of professionalism (i.e., delay in response, attitude, lack of communication), (2) perceived medical error, (3) breach of institutional protocol. RESULTS: Of the 207 entries included for analysis, 52 entries identified men (25%) and 31 entries identified women (15%). The gender was not available in 124 entries and, therefore, categorized as ambiguous. The most common complaint about men involved a physician-related EIC (n = 12, 23%, EIC TX39) and the most common complaint about women involved a communication-related EIC (n = 7, 23%, EIC TX55). Eighty-eight (43%) entries involved medical trainees; 82 (40%) involved surgical trainees. Women were more often identified by their name only (n = 8, 26% vs. n = 3, 6%; p < 0.001). This finding was consistent in both medical (n = 0, 0% vs. n = 5, 31%; p < 0.001) and surgical (n = 2, 7% vs. n = 3, 25%; p = 0.006) specialties. In entries involving women, a lack of professionalism was most frequently cited (n = 29, 94%). Entries identifying medical errors more frequently involved men (n = 25, 48% vs. n = 7, 23%; p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Gender-based differences exist in how hospital staff interpret trainees' actions and attitudes. These differences have consequences for training paradigms, perceptions of clinical competence, physician burnout, and ultimately, patient outcomes.

Contemporary management of acute and chronic mesenteric ischemia: 10-year experience from a multihospital healthcare system.

OBJECTIVE: Endovascular and hybrid methods have been increasingly used to treat mesenteric ischemia. However, the long-term outcomes and risk of symptom recurrence remain unknown. The objective of the present study was to define the predictors of postoperative morbidity, mortality, and patency loss for acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) and chronic mesenteric ischemia (CMI). METHODS: The inpatient and follow-up records for all patients who had undergone revascularization for AMI and CMI from 2010 to 2020 at a multicenter hospital system were reviewed. Patency and mortality were evaluated with Cox regression, visualized with Kaplan-Meier curves, and compared using log-rank testing. Patency was further evaluated using Fine-Gray regression with death as a competing risk. The postoperative major adverse events (MAE) and 30-day mortality were evaluated with logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 407 patients were included, 148 with AMI and 259 with CMI. For the AMI group, the 30-day mortality was 31%. Open surgery was associated with lower rates of bowel resection (odds ratio [OR], 0.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.13-0.61). The etiology of AMI also did not change the outcomes (OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 0.77-2.19). Adjusted analyses indicated that a history of diabetes (OR, 2.77; 95% CI, 1.37-5.61) and sepsis on presentation (OR, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.18-4.58) were independently associated with an increased risk of 30-day MAE. In the CMI group, open surgery and chronic kidney disease were associated with a higher incidence of MAE (OR, 3.03; 95% CI, 1.14-8.05; OR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.31-4.31). In contrast, chronic kidney disease (OR, 3.02; 95% CI, 1.10-8.37) and inpatient status before revascularization (OR, 2.78; 95% CI, 1.01-7.61) were associated with increased 30-day mortality. For the CMI group, the endovascular cohort had experienced greater rates of symptom recurrence (29% vs 13%) with a faster onset (endovascular, 64 days; vs bypass, 338 days). CONCLUSIONS: AMI remains a morbid disease despite the evolving revascularization techniques. An open approach should remain the reference standard because it reduces the likelihood of bowel resection. For CMI, endovascular interventions have improved the postoperative morbidity but have also resulted in early symptom recurrence and reintervention. An endovascular-first approach should be the standard of care for CMI with close surveillance.

The decline of open abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery among individual training programs and vascular surgery trainees.

OBJECTIVE: In the past decade, treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has dramatically shifted from open repair to an endovascular approach. The decreasing number of open AAA repairs (OAR) has raised concerns regarding future vascular surgeons' competence to perform this complex and high-risk procedure. Prior work has documented decreasing open aortic volume among surgical residents. However, these studies report average national case volume with a limited understanding of the variation in OAR exposure among training programs and trainees. We sought to evaluate the current open AAA repair trends among individual accredited vascular surgery training programs and vascular surgery residents to better evaluate trainees' exposure to OAR. METHODS: We identified elderly Medicare beneficiaries undergoing OAR and endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) between 2010 and 2014. Accredited vascular surgery training program hospitals were identified. OAR and EVAR volume was aggregated at the program level and the number of senior vascular surgery trainees per year at each program was captured. The training program all-payer total AAA repair volume was calculated based on the national proportion of patients undergoing AAA covered by Medicare in the Vascular Quality Initiative. Temporal trends in program and vascular surgery trainee OAR and EVAR volume were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 119,408 (77%) EVAR and 35,042 (23%) were identified in the Medicare database between 2010 and 2014. Of these, 21% were performed among the 111 training programs, including 22,227 (73%) EVAR and 8416 (27%) OAR. The total OAR volume among training programs decreased by 38% during the study period, from a median of 29.1 to 18.2 OAR. In 2014, 25% of programs performed fewer than 10 OARs annually. Among senior vascular surgery trainees, the median number of OAR decreased from 10.0 in 2010 to 6.4 in 2014 and approximately one-half of senior trainees had exposure to fewer than five OAR in 2014. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to OAR among vascular surgery training programs has dramatically decreased, with nearly one-half of senior trainees performing fewer than five OAR in 2014. The variable and diminishing OAR exposure among vascular surgery training program highlights growing concerns surrounding competence in complex open repairs and suggest that only a small proportion of current trainees have ample opportunity to develop confidence and proficiency in this high-risk operation.

Examining variation in Medicare payments and drivers of cost for carotid endarterectomy.

BACKGROUND: There is a growing interest in providing high quality and low-cost care to Americans. A pursuit exists to measure not only how well hospitals are performing but also at what cost. We examined the variation in costs associated with carotid endarterectomy (CEA), to determine which components contribute to the variation and what drives increased payments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients undergoing CEA between 2009 and 2012 were identified in the Medicare provider and analysis review database. Hospital quintiles of cost were generated and variation examined. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify independent predictors of high-payment hospitals for both asymptomatic and symptomatic patients undergoing CEA. RESULTS: A total of 264,018 CEAs were performed between 2009 and 2012; 250,317 were performed in asymptomatic patients in 2302 hospitals and 13,701 in symptomatic patients in 1851 hospitals. Higher payment hospitals had a higher percentage of nonwhite patients and comorbidity burden. The largest contributors to variation in overall payments were diagnosis-related groups, postdischarge, and readmission payments. After accounting for clustering at the hospital level, independent predictors of high-payment hospitals for all patients were postoperative stroke, length of stay, and readmission ,whereas in the symptomatic group, additional drivers included yearly volume and serious complications. CONCLUSIONS: CEA Medicare payments vary nationwide with diagnosis-related group, readmission, and postdischarge payments being the largest contributors to overall payment variation. In addition, stroke, length of stay, and readmission were the only independent predictors of high payment for all patients undergoing CEA.

Age is not a barrier to good outcomes after varicose vein procedures.

BACKGROUND: The Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) Varicose Vein Registry (VVR) represents a patient-centered database launched in January 2015. Previous work describing overall trends and outcomes of varicose vein procedures across the United States demonstrates a benefit from these procedures. The existing gaps in evidence to support current and future Medicare coverage of varicose vein procedures necessitate further description of clinical outcomes in patients ≥65 years old compared with the population <65 years old. METHODS: This study analyzed prospectively captured anatomic, procedural, and outcome data for all patients in a national cohort of all VQI VVR-participating centers. The VQI VVR database was queried for all patients undergoing varicose vein procedures between January 2015 and July 2016. Preprocedural and postprocedural Clinical, Etiology, Anatomy, and Pathophysiology (CEAP) classification, Venous Clinical Severity Score (VCSS), and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were compared between patients <65 years and ≥65 years old. Univariate descriptive statistics of demographic and procedural data were performed. Student t-tests were then performed on change in CEAP classification, VCSS score, and PROs (heaviness, achiness, throbbing, swelling, itching, appearance, and impact on work) for each group. RESULTS: There were 4841 varicose vein procedures performed from January 2015 to May 2016. There were 3441 procedures performed in 2691 patients (3631 limbs) in the group <65 years old and 1400 procedures performed in 1068 patients (1467 limbs) in the group ≥65 years old. Truncal veins alone were the most common veins treated in both groups. The majority of patients were white and female in both groups. Most of the demographic characteristics were clinically similar (although statistically different) in both groups with the exception of a higher body mass index in the group <65 years old and a history of bilateral varicose vein treatment, and anticoagulation was more common among patients ≥65 years old. Patients in both groups experienced statistically significant improvement in VCSS, PROs, and CEAP class. There was no difference in overall complications between age groups. CONCLUSIONS: All patients demonstrated an associated improvement in both clinical outcomes (CEAP class, VCSS) and PROs. There was no significant difference in the improvement in CEAP class and VCSS between patients younger and older than 65 years, although the younger population reported greater improvement in PROs. Given these findings, patients older than 65 years appear to benefit from varicose vein procedures and should not be denied interventions on their varicose veins and venous insufficiency on the basis of their age only.