Dive Brief:
- A study involving 6,000 first- through third-year physicians at 63 programs across the U.S. is comparing the results of those allowed to work 30 hours in a row, with those following the work limits implemented in 2011.
- The study of 30-hour shifts, which is partially funded by the National Institutes of Health, aims to determine the more optimal path toward balancing physician training with patient safety.
- While some experts argue overworked physicians are more likely to make mistakes, others suggest the risk is "minimal" compared to the the risk involved in increased patient handoffs.
Dive Insight:
While data on the subject could prove valuable, the method for obtaining it is raising some eyebrows.
Researchers got permission to change physicians' work hours from the organization that regulates physician training and from the ethics panel at the University of Pennsylvania, which is leading the research, the Washington Post reports. However, because the panel determined the risk to be minimal, the researchers did not have to get permission from the physicians involved or from the patients who will be impacted.
Opinions on the approach are mixed, but one supporter is Mildred Solomon, president of the Hastings Center, which studies healthcare ethics. “We haven’t really studied whether [restrictions on work hours] made a difference or not, not in this kind of rigorous way,” she told the Post. “And I think we need to find out.”
Results are expected in 2019, though results from a similar one-year study among surgical residents is expected in February.