Medical intern, resident hour reduction shows little change in care - new data

WESTWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- After 2011 brought a change the amount of hours medical residents and interns can work, new data shows it has not made a big difference.

Getting a medical residency at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center is a challenge, but has been a dream come true for doctor-in-training Dr. Mark Duncan.

"It's obviously a lot of work, but I think the medical school prepared me well," he said.

Residents and interns are an important part of the medical team at U.S. hospitals. For decades, it wouldn't be unusual to work 30 hours in a row or more.

"The initial concerns were mainly over whether or not these long shifts were causing poorer outcomes or medical errors in the hospital," said Dr. Mitesh Patel of the University of Pennsylvania.

The medical profession has been trying to do a number of things to try to improve patient care and patient safety. The most significant was to try to regulate intern and resident hours. So in 2011, the rules changed. Instead of working 30 consecutive hours, residents can now work a maximum of 28, and interns can work 16.

"In the first year after the reforms there was no positive or negative association with the duty hour reforms and changes in patient death or readmissions to the hospital," said Patel.

Patel and fellow University of Pennsylvania Dr. Kevin Yolpp evaluated whether this cut in hours affected death or readmission rates for almost 3 million hospitalized Medicare patients.

The hope was that it would improve quality of care, but the new data shows it hasn't made much of a difference.

"While they may be important in terms of having better rested interns and residents may not directly lead to significant improvements in patients outcomes," said Volpp.

Researchers say it'll be important to look at the longer term impact of these changes. For now, Duncan believes better-rested physicians does equate to better care.

"Being more rested, being able to not be quite as fatigued coming into work, I think that just shows patient care and patient satisfaction," he said.