Individual Physicians Research Articles

Results of a quality improvement program to increase complete lung cancer biomarker testing rates by focusing on system, physician, and other factors associated with adverse health outcomes.

e23249 Background: Complete biomarker testing (CBT) is an underutilized standard of care for patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma, but limited tissue samples may lead to incomplete testing. Especially if quantity is not sufficient (QNS) requiring additional samples, a prolonged time-to-initiation of treatment (TTT) has been shown to negatively impact clinical outcomes. Bon Secours Mercy Health (BSMH) Youngstown, Ohio reviewed biomarker testing data and found: 1) only 41% of patients received CBT, and 2) in the case of QNS when liquid biopsies were utilized, the time from diagnosis to results took an average of 42 days. BSMH worked in collaboration with OncoLens and Q Synthesis to address these issues and reduce the TTT. To our knowledge, there is also no data on interventions that can increase CBT across large health systems and simultaneously tackle both physician and other factors associated with known health disparities. Methods: A multidisciplinary team developed a new workflow for patients diagnosed with advanced NSCLC. The pilot involved collecting both tissue and blood at the time of needle biopsy and working with a single reference lab for testing. Physicians and nurses in radiology and pulmonology were in-serviced on the new workflow. As patients were being prepared for a biopsy procedure, nurses collected two tubes of blood for liquid biopsy. After the procedure, both the tissue and blood were sent to pathology and if pathology confirmed an advanced NSCLC diagnosis, both samples were sent to the reference lab for testing. The lab developed a new process to hold blood and test it only when the tissue was QNS. If QNS, tissue testing for PD- L1 was prioritized, and additional biomarker tests were completed with the blood sample. If tissue quantity was sufficient, unused blood was discarded. The lab charged for a single test regardless of whether the test was performed on tissue and/or blood. Results: The QI project ran from Sept 2021 - Dec 2022 and achieved four improvements: 1) a 39.6% increase in CBT in patients with advanced NSCLC (80.6% post-intervention), 2) a decrease of 15.7 days from diagnosis to complete liquid biopsy test results (27.2 days post-intervention, 3) increased CBT rates across all but one physician by an average of 55% (-5% to 220%), and 4) increased CBT by 8% in females and patients with Medicare, Medicaid or other noncommercial/underinsured/uninsured payors. Conclusions: This QI project demonstrated that CBT of advanced NSCLC can be improved by programs that are tailored to large health systems and individual physicians. Gains are also seen in patient populations at risk of adverse outcomes.

Thoughts on and Proposal for the Education, Training, and Recruitment of Infectious Disease Specialists.

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has underscored the significance of establishing and sustaining a practical and efficient infection control system for the benefit and welfare of society. Infectious disease (ID) specialists are expected to take on leadership roles in enhancing organizational infrastructures for infection prevention and control (IPC) at the hospital, community, and national levels. However, due to an absolute shortage and an uneven distribution, many core hospitals currently lack the ID specialists. Given the escalating global risk of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases as well as antimicrobial resistance pathogens, the education and training of ID specialists constitutes an imperative concern. As demonstrated by historical changes in the healthcare reimbursement system, the establishment and enhancement of IPC measures is pivotal to ensuring medical safety. The existing structure of academic society-driven certification and training initiatives for ID specialists, contingent upon the discretionary decisions of individual physicians, possesses both quantitative and qualitative shortcomings. In this article, I first address the present situations and challenges related to ID specialists and then introduce my idea of securing ID specialists based on the new concepts and platforms; (i) ID Specialists as National Credentials, (ii) Establishment of the Department of Infectious Diseases in Medical and Graduate Schools, (iii) Endowed ID Educative Courses Funded by Local Government and Pharmaceutical Companies, and (iv) Recruitment of Young Physicians Engaged in Healthcare Services in Remote Areas. As clarified by the COVID-19 pandemic, ID specialists play a crucial role in safeguarding public health. Hopefully, this article will advance the discussion and organizational reform for the education and training of ID specialists.

To Know Me Is to Exonerate Me: Appeals to Character in Defense of the Willowbrook Hepatitis Study.

The Willowbrook Hepatitis Study is one of the best-known examples of unethical medical research, but the research has always had defenders. One of the more intriguing defenses continually used was that critics did not know the researchers on the study and, therefore, could not assess their ethics. This essay traces the appeal to the researchers' characters across published research and archival sources from the 1960s through today. These appeals reflect the observation as old as Aristotle that one of the most potent modes of persuasion is ethos or character. The specific types of character in these appeals develop out of the paternalistic nature of clinical and research practice in the mid-twentieth century. If the individual physician is the locus of medical judgment, then the physician's character becomes a key concern for bioethics. These appeals still appear and have implications for bioethics in the present day.

Academic Productivity at Orthopedic Spine Surgery Fellowships is Positively Correlated With Nonresearch Lifetime Industry Earnings: A Retrospective Study.

Retrospective Analysis. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of academic productivity at both individual and program levels on lifetime industry earnings within US orthopedic spine fellowships. Physician-industry transparency was codified by the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (PSSA) in 2010. No study has explored the relationship between academic productivity and industry earnings at the fellowship level. Inclusion criteria encompassed physicians with complete academic and industry data from orthopedic spine fellowship programs listed on the North American Spine Society (NASS) 2022-2023 fellowship directory. Academic productivity was defined via H-index on the Scopus website, and industry productivity by total lifetime earnings on the Open Payments Database (OPD). This analysis included 75 orthopedic spine fellowship programs with 320 individual physicians. Median individual physician lifetime earnings were $86,852.71 (mean: $666,580.23 ± $1,887,734.64; minimum-maximum: $10.86-$27,164,431.49) and the median individual physician (n=320 physicians) H-index was 17.0 (mean: 21.82 ± 19.28; minimum-maximum: 0-109). Median combined physician H-index per fellowship (n=75 fellowships) was 65.0 (mean: 93.08 ± 85.67; minimum-maximum: 3-434) and median combined physician lifetime earnings was $927,771.60 (mean: $2,844,075.64 ± $4,942,089.56; minimum-maximum: $1,112.32-$29,983,900.69). A positive correlation was observed between academic productivity and industry productivity at an individual level (P<0.001; Spearman's rho = 0.467). This correlation was stronger at the fellowship level (P<0.001; Spearman's rho = 0.734). There was no significant difference in total lifetime earnings (P=0.369) or H-index per fellowship (P=0.232) when stratified by region of the fellowship program in the United States. Orthopedic spine surgery fellowship programs in the United States exhibit a positive correlation between academic productivity and nonresearch industry lifetime earnings at both individual and program levels. This correlation is stronger at the program level, and regional differences among fellowship programs do not significantly impact academic or industry productivity.

Treatment satisfaction in adults with atopic dermatitis: a cross-sectional, population-based study examining patient and physician perspectives in the US.

Studies examining the real-world treatment satisfaction in adults with atopic dermatitis (AD) and the physicians who treat adults with AD are scarce. We sought to characterize treatment satisfaction of adults with AD and physicians' perceived patient satisfaction with AD treatment. We performed a cross-sectional study of adults > = 18 years of age (modified AD UK Working Party Criteria, age onset < = 18 [N = 767]) with AD and a parallel-physician survey among allergists/immunologists [N = 148], dermatologists [N = 149] and primary care medicine [N = 104]. Logistic regression models were used to examine factors associated with patient treatment satisfaction (PTS) or physician-perceived patient treatment satisfaction (pPTS). Factors associated with increased PTS included female, older age, and receiving a written eczema action plan (EAP). Severe AD, itch, pain, and insomnia, greater impact on partner relationships, feeling not adequately informed about AD causes, and being separated, never married, or living with a partner was associated with less PTS. From the physician's perspective, mild AD and development of EAP was associated with increase pPTS, whereas being in practice longer was associated with less pPTS. Limitations include the potential for misclassification of AD and the inability to match AD patients to individual physicians. Recognizing which factors are associated with treatment satisfaction can help inform counseling and decision-making strategies, including the use of an eczema action plan, and support patient-physician outcomes alignment.

A Novel Low-Cost Simulation Model for Point-of-Care Ultrasound Intussusception Practice.

Pediatric intussusception is a relatively common yet serious condition where prompt diagnosis is crucial. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has proven accurate for diagnosing this disease and can expedite both diagnosis and treatment. Previous research has shown that emergency physicians can diagnose intussusception with acceptable sensitivity and specificity but require prior training in recognizing the pathology. Despite the disease's relative frequency, any individual physician rarely encounters it, making a simulation model vital for learning this ultrasound modality. We created a model using low-cost, easily available components that can be used to train emergency physicians to diagnose intussusception on POCUS.

Successes and Lessons Learned in Responding to the Needs of Pediatricians, Children, and Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has presented tremendous challenges to the United States health care system, as well as to individual physicians, communities, and families. Throughout the pandemic, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has striven to elevate the needs of infants, children, and adolescents, as well as the pediatricians who care for this population. Historically, these communities have often been overlooked and deprioritized in health care systems, and these deficits persisted into the pandemic. To fill this gap, the AAP took on an essential role in leading the national response for pediatrics. This article details the AAP pandemic response and includes the perspectives of multiple AAP leaders involved in the response and details on Academy advocacy with high-level staff and officials at federal agencies and the executive branch. The AAP provided initial guidance to pediatricians that predated the World Health Organization's declaration of a public health emergency. The Academy then developed entirely new approaches to meet the unprecedented needs of its practicing members and families by providing timely, rigorous information endorsed by pediatric experts. When coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines were developed, the AAP strongly advised the inclusion of those younger than 18 years in vaccine trials and advocated for equitable distribution plans. The AAP provided its members with strategies for combating misinformation. The Academy was at the forefront of advocating for the safe return to in-person schooling, recognizing that social isolation was contributing to the growing mental health crisis among youth. In 2021, the AAP, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children's Hospital Association declared a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health. In addition, the AAP implemented educational and training opportunities for clinicians and developed resources for youth and their families. After the end of the public health emergency, AAP members continue to use innovations and efficiencies developed as part of their pandemic response. The successes of the AAP pandemic response, alongside lessons learned, help define an important model for responding to future pandemics and public health emergencies in ways that support children, families, and the pediatric workforce.

The Impact of Primary Care Clinic and Family Physician Continuity on Patient Health Outcomes: A Retrospective Analysis From Alberta, Canada.

Continuity of care is broadly associated with better patient health outcomes. The relative contributions of continuity with an individual physician and with a practice, however, have not generally been distinguished. This retrospective observational study examined the impact of continuity of care for patients seen at their main clinic but by different family physicians. We analyzed linked health administrative data from 2015-2018 from Alberta, Canada to explore the association of physician and clinic continuity with rates of emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations across varying levels of patient complexity. Physician continuity was calculated using the known provider of care index and clinic continuity with an analogous measure. We developed zero-inflated negative binomial models to assess the association of each with all-cause ED visits and hospitalizations. High physician continuity was associated with lower ED use across all levels of patient complexity and with fewer hospitalizations for highly complex patients. Broadly, no (0%) clinic continuity was associated with increased use and complete (100%) clinic continuity with decreased use, with the largest effect seen for the most complex patients. Levels of clinic continuity between 1% and 50% were generally associated with slightly higher use, and levels of 51% to 99% with slightly lower use. The best health care outcomes (measured by ED visits and hospitalizations) are associated with consistently seeing one's own primary family physician or seeing a clinic partner when that physician is unavailable. The effect of partial clinic continuity appears complex and requires additional research. These results provide some reassurance for part-time and shared practices, and guidance for primary care workforce policy makers.

Modified Delphi panel consensus recommendations for management of severe aplastic anemia

AbstractSevere aplastic anemia (SAA) is a rare hematologic condition for which there is no clear management algorithm. A panel of 11 experts on adult and pediatric aplastic anemia was assembled and, using the RAND/University of California, Los Angeles modified Delphi panel method, evaluated >600 varying patient care scenarios to develop clinical recommendations for the initial and subsequent management of patients of all ages with SAA. Here, we present the panel’s recommendations to rule out inherited bone marrow failure syndromes, on supportive care before and during first-line therapy, and on first-line (initial management) and second-line (subsequent management) therapy of acquired SAA, focusing on when transplant vs medical therapy is most appropriate. These recommendations represent the consensus of 11 experts informed by published literature and experience. They are intended only as general guidance for experienced clinicians who treat patients with SAA and are in no way intended to supersede individual physician and patient decision making. Current and future research should validate this consensus using clinical data. Once validated, we hope these expert panel recommendations will improve outcomes for patients with SAA.

The use of an embryo transfer simulator to compare transfer techniques and pregnancy outcomes among physicians

To evaluate the association between embryo transfer techniques and pregnancy outcomes. This is a prospective observational study with a retrospective cohort. University Clinic. Patients underwent embryo transfers between 2015 and2020. Fourteen physicians performed 25 mock embryo transfers on the embryo transfer simulator and completed a questionnaire assessing preferred embryo transfer techniques. Quantitative performance metrics on the embryo transfer simulator were measured. Individual physician embryo transfer success rates were retrospectively collected from all fresh and cryopreserved embryo transfers between January 1, 2015, and January 1, 2020. Associations between embryo transfer techniques (preferred technique and simulator performance metrics) and each physician's historical patient pregnancy outcomes were assessed. Associations between embryo transfer techniques and live births were assessed. There were significant differences in embryo transfer techniques between physicians, including touches to the fundus, distance to the fundus, duration of embryo transfer, duration of the complete procedure, time spent navigating the cervical canal, velocity of embryo expulsion, time waited after embryo expulsion, and total score on the embryo transfer simulator. After controlling for confounders and multiple transfers per physician, the duration of embryo transfer was significantly associated with live birth, with longer durations associated with decreased live birth rates. Shorter placement distance to the fundus and higher velocity of embryo expulsion were both significantly associated with higher rates of ectopic pregnancy. This study revealed significant differences in transfer techniques among physicians. The use of the embryo transfer simulator for physicians in practice can elucidate differences and create opportunities for data-driven improvement in embryo transfer success rates.

The influence of hospital volume and physician volume on early mortality in acute promyelocytic leukemia patients

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a highly curable hematologic malignancy in the era of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) combination treatment. However, only a modest change in early mortality rate has been observed despite the wide availability of ATRA. In addition to the clinical characteristics of APL patients, studies on the hospital volume-outcome relationship and the physician volume-outcome relationship remained limited. We aim to evaluate the association between hospital and physician volume and the early mortality rate among APL patients. The patients were collected from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). Early mortality is defined as death within 30 days of diagnosis. Patients were categorized into four groups according to individual cumulative hospital and physician volume. The risk of all-cause mortality in APL patients with different cumulative volume groups was compared using a Cox proportional hazard model. The probability of overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. All 741 patients were divided into four quartile volume groups. In the multivariate analysis, only physician volume was significantly associated with early mortality rate. The physician volume of the highest quartile was a protective factor for early mortality compared with the physician volume of the lowest quartile (HR 0.10, 95% CI 0.02–0.65). Hospital characteristics were not associated with early mortality. In the sensitivity analyses, the results remained consistent using two other different definitions of early mortality. Higher physician volume was independently associated with lower early mortality, while hospital volume was not. Enhancing the clinical expertise of low-volume physicians may ensure better outcomes.

Are Quality Scores in the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services Merit-based Incentive Payment System Associated With Outcomes After Outpatient Orthopaedic Surgery?

The Medicare Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) ties reimbursement incentives to clinician performance to improve healthcare quality. It is unclear whether the MIPS quality score can accurately distinguish between high-performing and low-performing clinicians. (1) What were the rates of unplanned hospital visits (emergency department visits, observation stays, or unplanned admissions) within 7, 30, and 90 days of outpatient orthopaedic surgery among Medicare beneficiaries? (2) Was there any association of MIPS quality scores with the risk of an unplanned hospital visit (emergency department visits, observation stays, or unplanned admissions)? Between January 2018 and December 2019, a total of 605,946 outpatient orthopaedic surgeries were performed in New York State according to the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System database. Of those, 56,772 patients were identified as Medicare beneficiaries and were therefore potentially eligible. A further 34% (19,037) were excluded because of missing surgeon identifier, age younger than 65 years, residency outside New York State, emergency department visit on the same day as outpatient surgery, observation stay on the same claim as outpatient surgery, and concomitant high-risk or eye procedures, leaving 37,735 patients for analysis. The database does not include a list of all state residents and thus does not allow for censoring of patients who move out of state. We chose this dataset because it includes nearly all hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers in a large geographic area (New York State) and hence is not limited by sampling bias. We included 37,735 outpatient orthopaedic surgical encounters among Medicare beneficiaries in New York State from 2018 to 2019. For the 37,735 outpatient orthopaedic surgical procedures included in our study, the mean ± standard deviation age of patients was 73 ± 7 years, 84% (31,550) were White, and 59% (22,071) were women. Our key independent variable was the MIPS quality score percentile (0 to 19th, 20th to 39th, 40th to 59th, or 60th to 100th) for orthopaedic surgeons. Clinicians in the MIPS program may receive a bonus or penalty based on the overall MIPS score, which ranges from 0 to 100 and is a weighted score based on four subscores: quality, promoting interoperability, improvement activities, and cost. The MIPS quality score, which attempts to reward clinicians providing superior quality of care, accounted for 50% and 45% of the overall MIPS score in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Our main outcome measures were 7-day, 30-day, and 90-day unplanned hospital visits after outpatient orthopaedic surgery. To determine the association between MIPS quality scores and unplanned hospital visits, we estimated multivariable hierarchical logistic regression models controlling for MIPS quality scores; patient-level (age, race and ethnicity, gender, and comorbidities), facility-level (such as bed size and teaching status), surgery and surgeon-level (such as surgical procedure and surgeon volume) covariates; and facility-level random effects. We then used these models to estimate the adjusted rates of unplanned hospital visits across MIPS quality score percentiles after adjusting for covariates in the multivariable models. In total, 2% (606 of 37,735), 2% (783 of 37,735), and 3% (1013 of 37,735) of encounters had an unplanned hospital visit within 7, 30, or 90 days of outpatient orthopaedic surgery, respectively. Most hospital visits within 7 days (95% [576 of 606]), 30 days (94% [733 of 783]), or 90 days (91% [924 of 1013]) were because of emergency department visits. We found very small differences in unplanned hospital visits by MIPS quality scores, with the 20th to 39th percentile of MIPS quality scores having 0.71% points (95% CI -1.19% to -0.22%; p = 0.004), 0.68% points (95% CI -1.26% to -0.11%; p = 0.02), and 0.75% points (95% CI -1.42% to -0.08%; p = 0.03) lower than the 0 to 19th percentile at 7, 30, and 90 days, respectively. There was no difference in adjusted rates of unplanned hospital visits between patients undergoing surgery with a surgeon in the 0 to 19th, 40th to 59th, or 60th to 100th percentiles at 7, 30, or 90 days. We found that the rates of unplanned hospital visits after outpatient orthopaedic surgery among Medicare beneficiaries were low and primarily driven by emergency department visits. We additionally found only a small association between MIPS quality scores for individual physicians and the risk of an unplanned hospital visit after outpatient orthopaedic surgery. These findings suggest that policies aimed at reducing postoperative emergency department visits may be the best target to reduce overall postoperative unplanned hospital visits and that the MIPS program should be eliminated or modified to more strongly link reimbursement to risk-adjusted patient outcomes, thereby better aligning incentives among patients, surgeons, and the Centers for Medicare ad Medicaid Services. Future work could seek to evaluate the association between MIPS scores and other surgical outcomes and evaluate whether annual changes in MIPS score weighting are independently associated with clinician performance in the MIPS and regarding clinical outcomes. Level III, therapeutic study.

Cardiology career satisfaction: a little academic activity goes a long way.

The professional landscape for clinical cardiologists and most physicians has changed dramatically in the last decade in the United States. By the end of 2020, 87% of cardiologists were integrated with a health system (employed or part of a professional services agreement). Physicians transitioning to a large employer are often dissatisfied with the lack of autonomy and the pressure from "one-size-fits-all" productivity targets. The results from physician surveys indicate that physicians practicing clinically in an academic environment have greater job satisfaction. Potentially even a modest amount of time comprising 10-20% of total effort spent on academic pursuits that are most meaningful to the individual physician can result in nearly a two-thirds lower risk of burnout compared with physicians who don't receive this time. The opportunity to participate in this special topic compendium by cardiovascular specialists at one regional integrated health system in the United States is an example of an opportunity to successfully incorporate meaningful professional academic opportunities into a clinical care environment.

Explaining Variability in Electronic Health Record Effort in Primary Care Ambulatory Encounters.

Electronic health record (EHR) user interface event logs are fast providing another perspective on the value and efficiency EHR technology brings to health care. Analysis of these detailed usage data has demonstrated their potential to identify EHR and clinical process design factors related to user efficiency, satisfaction, and burnout. This study aimed to analyze the event log data across 26 different health systems to determine the variability of use of a single vendor's EHR based on four event log metrics, at the individual, practice group, and health system levels. We obtained de-identified event log data recorded from June 1, 2018, to May 31, 2019, from 26 health systems' primary care physicians. We estimated the variability in total Active EHR Time, Documentation Time, Chart Review Time, and Ordering Time across health systems, practice groups, and individual physicians. In total, 5,444 physicians (Family Medicine: 3,042 and Internal Medicine: 2,422) provided care in a total of 2,285 different practices nested in 26 health systems. Health systems explain 1.29, 3.55, 3.45, and 3.30% of the total variability in Active Time, Documentation Time, Chart Review Time, and Ordering Time, respectively. Practice-level variability was estimated to be 7.96, 13.52, 8.39, and 5.57%, respectively, and individual physicians explained the largest proportion of the variability for those same outcomes 17.09, 27.49, 17.51, and 19.75%, respectively. The most variable physician EHR usage patterns occurs at the individual physician level and decreases as you move up to the practice and health system levels. This suggests that interventions to improve individual users' EHR usage efficiency may have the most potential impact compared with those directed at health system or practice levels.

The Rationale for Using Fixed-Dose Combination Therapy in the Management of Hypertension in Colombia: A Narrative Review.

Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and the leading cause of death in Colombia. While the rate of hypertension awareness in Colombia is generally high, rates of treatment initiation, adherence, and blood pressure (BP) control are suboptimal. Major international hypertension guidelines recommend starting treatment with a combination of antihypertensive agents, and the use of a single-pill combination (SPC) to maximize adherence. In contrast, Colombian hypertension guidelines recommend starting treatment with diuretic monotherapy in most patients, and only initiating combination therapy in those with BP > 160/100 mmHg. Therefore, the aim of the current narrative review is to examine the rationale for using SPCs to treat hypertension in Colombia, in the context of the major issues for BP controlthere. There is evidence of widespread therapeutic inertia in hypertension management, particularly in primary care, in Colombia. Moreover, combination therapy, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and long-acting calcium channel blockers, which are internationally recommended as first-line drug therapies, are underutilized there. Adherence to antihypertensive therapy is low in Colombia and may be enhanced by use of SPCs as well as better patient education and follow-up. While there are promising national initiatives to improve BP management, more needs to be done by individual physicians. Antihypertensive SPCs are available on the national essential medicines list and may help to overcome some of the problems with suboptimal adherence, therapeutic inertia, and low rates of BP control that contribute to the high cardiovascular death rate in Colombia.

Business and Corporate Models for Interventional Radiology in the Office Based Lab and Ambulatory Surgical Center Setting

The landscape of healthcare is shifting towards outpatient settings such as Office-Based Labs (OBLs) and Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs). This transition, driven by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), presents various business and corporate models for interventional radiologists seeking to practice outside traditional hospital environments. The role of private equity and management services in facilitating these transitions is highlighted, offering opportunities for growth, efficiency, and enhanced control over practice operations. The document also discusses the financial aspects of establishing an OBL or ASC, the benefits of outpatient procedures, and the adaptability of private equity deals to the specific needs of medical practices. It concludes by emphasizing the potential for long-term wealth creation and the adaptability of these models to individual physician needs.

Physician resilience and perceived quality of care among medical doctors with training in psychosomatic medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic: a quantitative and qualitative analysis

BackgroundAt an individual level, physician resilience protects against burnout and against its known negative effects on individual physicians, patient safety, and quality of care. However, it remains uncertain whether physician resilience also correlates with maintaining a high level of healthcare quality during crises such as a pandemic. This study aimed to investigate whether higher resilience among physicians, who had received training in resilience-related competences in the past, would be associated with higher quality of care delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThis study enrolled physicians working in family medicine, psychiatry, internal medicine, and other medical specialties, who had obtained at least one of three consecutive diplomas in psychosomatic medicine in the past. Participants completed a quantitative and qualitative anonymous online survey. Resilience was measured using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and healthcare quality was assessed through single-item quality indicators, including perceived quality of care, professional autonomy, adequate time for patient care, and job satisfaction.ResultsThe study included 229 physicians (70 males/159 females) with additional training in psychosomatic medicine, working in family medicine (42.5%), psychiatry (28.1%), internal medicine (7.0%), or other medical specialties (22.4%). Participants represented four intensity levels of training background (level 1 to level 4: 9.2%, 32.3%, 46.3%, and 12.2% of participants). Training background in psychosomatic medicine was positively associated with resilience (B = 0.08, SE = 0.04, p <.05). Resilience and training background independently predicted perceived quality of care, even after controlling for variables such as own health concerns, involvement in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, financial strain, percentage of working hours spent on patient care, age, and gender (resilience: B = 0.33, SE = 0.12, p <.01; training background: B = 0.17, SE = 0.07, p <.05). Both resilience and training background predicted job satisfaction (resilience: B = 0.42, SE = 0.12, p <.001; training background: B = 0.18, SE = 0.07, p <.05), while resilience alone predicted professional autonomy (B = 0.27, SE = 0.12, p <.05). In response to an open question about their resources, resilient physicians more frequently reported applying conscious resilient skills/emotion regulation (p <.05) and personal coping strategies (p <.01) compared to less resilient medical doctors.ConclusionPhysician resilience appears to play a significant role in the perceived quality of patient care, professional autonomy, and job satisfaction during healthcare crises.

Considerations for instituting pediatric pulmonary embolism response teams: A tool kit

The incidence of pediatric pulmonary embolism (PE) has increased by 200 % in the last decade, but at a single center, it is still infrequent. Given the unique epidemiologic features of pediatric PE, diagnosis is often delayed, and the management is empiric, based on individual physician experience or preference. Thus, there is a strong need for center-specific uniform management of pediatric PE patients. In adults, the development of pulmonary embolism response teams (PERTs) or PE critical care pathways has shortened the time to diagnosis and the initiation of definitive management. Evidence to support an improvement in PE outcomes after the development of PERTs does not exist in children. Nonetheless, we have summarized the practical practice guidelines that physicians and institutions can adopt to establish their institutional PERTs or critical pathways. We also provide strategies for resource-challenged institutions for partnering with centers with expertise in the management of pediatric PE.

N-of-1 Trials of Antimicrobial Stewardship Interventions to Optimize Antibiotic Prescribing for Upper Respiratory Tract Infection in Emergency Departments: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Study.

Antimicrobial stewardship programs attempting to optimize antibiotic therapy and clinical outcomes mainly focus on inpatient and outpatient settings. The lack of antimicrobial stewardship program studies in the emergency department (ED) represents a gap in tackling the problem of antimicrobial resistance as EDs treat a substantial number of upper respiratory tract infection cases throughout the year. We intend to implement two evidence-based interventions: (1) patient education and (2) providing physician feedback on their prescribing rates. We will incorporate evidence from a literature review and contextualizing the interventions based on findings from a local qualitative study. Our study uses a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the effects of interventions over time in the EDs of 4 public hospitals in Singapore. We will include an initial control period of 18 months. In the next 6 months, we will randomize 2 EDs to receive 1 intervention (ie, patient education) and the other 2 EDs to receive the alternative intervention (ie, physician feedback). All EDs will receive the second intervention in the subsequent 6 months on top of the ongoing intervention. Data will be collected for another 6 months to assess the persistence of the intervention effects. The information leaflets will be handed to patients at the EDs before they consult with the physician, while feedback to individual physicians by senior doctors is in the form of electronic text messages. The feedback will contain the physicians' antibiotic prescribing rate compared with the departments' overall antibiotic prescribing rate and a bite-size message on good antibiotic prescribing practices. We will analyze the data using segmented regression with difference-in-difference estimation to account for concurrent cluster comparisons. Our proposed study assesses the effectiveness of evidence-based, context-specific interventions to optimize antibiotic prescribing in EDs. These interventions are aligned with Singapore's national effort to tackle antimicrobial resistance and can be scaled up if successful. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05451863; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05451836. DERR1-10.2196/50417.

Academic productivity correlates with industry earnings in foot and ankle fellowship programs in the United States: A retrospective analysis.

The study investigates the connection between academic productivity and industry earnings in foot and ankle orthopedic surgery fellowships. Utilizing metrics like the H-index and Open Payments Database (OPD) data, it addresses a gap in understanding the relationship between scholarly achievements and financial outcomes, providing a basis for further exploration in this specialized medical field. To elucidate the trends between academic productivity and industry earnings across foot and ankle orthopedic surgery fellowship programs in the United States. This study is a retrospective analysis of the relationship between academic productivity and industry earnings of foot and ankle orthopedic surgery fellowships at an individual faculty and fellowship level. Academic productivity was defined via H-index and recorded from the Scopus website. Industry earnings were recorded from the OPD. Forty-eight foot and ankle orthopedic surgery fellowships (100% of fellowships) in the United States with a combined total of 165 physicians (95.9% of physicians) were included. Mean individual physician (n = 165) total life-time earnings reported on the OPD website was United States Dollar (USD) 451430.30 ± 1851084.89 (range: USD 25.16-21269249.85; median: USD 27839.80). Mean physician (n = 165) H-index as reported on Scopus is 14.24 ± 12.39 (range: 0-63; median: 11). There was a significant but weak correlation between individual physician H-index and individual physician total life-time earnings (P < 0.001; Spearman's rho = 0.334) and a significant and moderate positive correlation between combined fellowship H-index and total life-time earnings per fellowship (P = 0.004, Spearman's rho = 0.409). There is a significant and positive correlation between academic productivity and industry earnings at foot and ankle orthopedic surgery fellowships in the United States. This observation is true on an individual physician level as well as on a fellowship level.