Evaluation of standardized doctor's orders as an educational tool for undergraduate medical students: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Standardized doctor's orders are replacing traditional order writing in teaching hospitals. The impact of this shift in practice on medical education is unknown. It is possible that preprinted orders interfere with knowledge acquisition and retention by not requiring active decision-making. The objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of standardized admission orders on disease-specific knowledge among undergraduate medical trainees. METHODS: This prospective cohort study enrolled Year 3 (n = 121) and Year 4 (n = 54) medical students at two academic hospitals in Toronto (Ontario, Canada) during their general internal medicine rotation. We used standardized orders for patient admissions for alcohol withdrawal (AW) and for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) as the intervention and manual order writing as the control. Educational outcomes were assessed through end-of-rotation questionnaires assessing disease-specific knowledge of AW and AECOPD. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS: Of 175 students, 105 had exposure to patients with alcohol withdrawal during their rotation, and 68 students wrote admission orders. Among these 68 students, 48 used standardized orders (intervention, n = 48) and 20 used manual order writing (control, n = 20). Only 3 students used standardized orders for AECOPD, precluding analysis. There was no significant difference found in mean total score of questionnaires between those who used AW standardized orders and those who did not (11.8 vs. 11.0, p = 0.4). Students who had direct clinical experience had significantly higher mean total scores (11.6 vs. 9.0, p < 0.0001 for AW; 13.8 vs. 12.6, p = 0.02 for AECOPD) compared to students who did not. When corrected for overall knowledge, this difference only persisted for AW. CONCLUSIONS: No significant differences were found in total scores between students who used standardized admission orders and traditional manual order writing. Clinical exposure was associated with increase in disease-specific knowledge.

The intended and unintended consequences of communication systems on general internal medicine inpatient care delivery: a prospective observational case study of five teaching hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Effective clinical communication is critical to providing high-quality patient care. Hospitals have used different types of interventions to improve communication between care teams, but there have been few studies of their effectiveness. OBJECTIVES: To describe the effects of different communication interventions and their problems. DESIGN: Prospective observational case study using a mixed methods approach of quantitative and qualitative methods. SETTING: General internal medicine (GIM) inpatient wards at five tertiary care academic teaching hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Clinicians consisting of residents, attending physicians, nurses, and allied health (AH) staff working on the GIM wards. METHODS: Ethnographic methods and interviews with clinical staff (doctors, nurses, medical students, and AH professionals) were conducted over a 16-month period from 2009 to 2010. RESULTS: We identified four categories that described the intended and unintended consequences of communication interventions: impacts on senders, receivers, interprofessional collaboration, and the use of informal communication processes. The use of alphanumeric pagers, smartphones, and web-based communication systems had positive effects for senders and receivers, but unintended consequences were seen with all interventions in all four categories. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions that aimed to improve clinical communications solved some but not all problems, and unintended effects were seen with all systems.

Does this patient with diabetes have osteomyelitis of the lower extremity?

CONTEXT: Osteomyelitis of the lower extremity is a commonly encountered problem in patients with diabetes and is an important cause of amputation and admission to the hospital. The diagnosis of lower limb osteomyelitis in patients with diabetes remains a challenge. OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of historical features, physical examination, and laboratory and basic radiographic testing. We searched for systematic reviews of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of lower extremity osteomyelitis in patients with diabetes to compare its performance with the reference standard. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE search of English-language articles published between 1966 and March 2007 related to osteomyelitis in patients with diabetes. Additional articles were identified through a hand search of references from retrieved articles, previous reviews, and polling experts. STUDY SELECTION: Original studies were selected if they (1) described historical features, physical examination, laboratory investigations, or plain radiograph in the diagnosis of lower extremity osteomyelitis in patients with diabetes mellitus, (2) data could be extracted to construct 2 x 2 tables or had reported operating characteristics of the diagnostic measure, and (3) the diagnostic test was compared with a reference standard. Of 279 articles retrieved, 21 form the basis of this review. Data from a single high-quality meta-analysis were used to summarize the diagnostic characteristics of MRI in osteomyelitis. DATA EXTRACTION: Two authors independently assigned each study a quality grade using previously published criteria and abstracted operating characteristic data using a standardized instrument. DATA SYNTHESIS: The gold standard for diagnosis is bone biopsy. No studies were identified that addressed the utility of the history in the diagnosis of osteomyelitis. An ulcer area larger than 2 cm2 (positive likelihood ratio [LR], 7.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-49; negative LR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.31-0.76) and a positive "probe-to-bone" test result (summary positive LR, 6.4; 95% CI, 3.6-11; negative LR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.20-0.76) were the best clinical findings. A erythrocyte sedimentation rate of more than 70 mm/h increases the probability of a diagnosis of osteomyelitis (summary LR, 11; 95% CI, 1.6-79). An abnormal plain radiograph doubles the odds of osteomyelitis (summary LR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.6-3.3). A positive MRI result increases the likelihood of osteomyelitis (summary LR, 3.8; 95% CI, 2.5-5.8). However, a normal MRI result makes osteomyelitis much less likely (summary LR, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.08-0.26). The overall accuracy (ie, the weighted average of the sensitivity and specificity) of the MRI is 89% (95% CI, 83.0%-94.5%). CONCLUSIONS: An ulcer area larger than 2 cm2, a positive probe-to-bone test result, an erythrocyte sedimentation rate of more than 70 mm/h, and an abnormal plain radiograph result are helpful in diagnosing the presence of lower extremity osteomyelitis in patients with diabetes. A negative MRI result makes the diagnosis much less likely when all of these findings are absent. No single historical feature or physical examination reliably excludes osteomyelitis. The diagnostic utility of a combination of findings is unknown.