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The July Effect at Teaching Hospitals
The study found that during the month of July there is a 10 percent increase of lethal medication errors in teaching hospitals.
July 08, 2010 /Post Graduate PR News/ -- Being admitted to the hospital with an illness or injury always comes with risks. However, new studies indicate that being admitted to the hospital in July may increase the duration of a patient's stay in the hospital and increase a patient's risk of death.
A study by researchers from the University of San Diego of 244,388 deaths caused by medication errors indicates that a patient has about the same chance of a lethal medication error throughout the year with one exception. The study found that during the month of July there is a 10 percent increase of lethal medication errors in teaching hospitals.
The study suggests that the increase at teaching hospitals is due to the new residents who begin work in July. Dr. David Orentlicher suggests that new residents might put patients at risk because of inexperience, learning the system of a new hospital and long shifts -- up to 36 hours.
Additional Study
A study by Robert Huckman and Jason Barro suggests that the length of stays and mortality rates at teaching hospitals increased between the months of July and August, corresponding with the hiring of new residents. However, the study indicates that it might not just be due to the new hires that the length of hospital stays and mortality rates increased, but also because of the mass departure of experienced workers which also occurs in July for hospitals. The authors of the study call this "cohort turnover."
Other industries have specific times of the year when large numbers of new hires start working, for instance new attorneys begin work in the late summer/early fall. However, the legal profession does not experience the same spike in negative effects. The study would suggest this is because there is not a mass departure of experienced attorneys at that time.
This study does find that teaching hospitals with high levels of supervision experience a smaller July effect.
While both studies seem to indicate that it is the hiring of new residents that is responsible for the increases in the length of hospital stays and mortality rates, the studies do not eliminate all other factors that may explain the findings.
If you or a loved one has been injured or experienced questionable care, further injury or death during a hospital stay, regardless of the month of year, please contact an experienced personal injury attorney to find out if you have legal recourse.
Article provided by Friedman, Domiano & Smith Co., L.P.A.
Visit us at www.fdslaw.com
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