Date: 11/11/2013

Author(s): Henry J. Michtalik, Peter J. Pronovost, Jill A. Marsteller, Joanne Spetz, Daniel J. Brotman

 

Attending physician workload may be compromising patient safety and quality of care. Recent studies show hospitalists, intensivists, and surgeons report that excessive attending physician workload has a negative impact on patient care.1–3 Because physician teams and hospitals differ in composition, function, and setting, it is difficult to directly compare one service to another within or between institutions. Identifying physician, team, and hospital characteristics associated with clinicians’ impressions of unsafe workload provides physician leaders, hospital administrators, and policymakers with potential “risk factors” and specific targets for interventions.4 In this study, we use a national survey of hospitalists to identify the physician, team, and hospital factors associated with physician report of an “unsafe” workload. Full Publication