The effect of supervision of residents on quality of care in five university-affiliated emergency departments

Abstract

PURPOSE: To assess the impact of direct supervision of resident physicians by attending physicians on quality of care in emergency departments. METHOD: In 1993, compliance with process-of-care guidelines was measured for 3,667 patients cared for by residents in five emergency departments in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Those patients presented with abdominal pain, asthma/COPD, chest pain, hand laceration, head trauma, or vaginal bleeding. A follow-up survey to assess patient satisfaction and reported problems with care was completed by 1,094 randomly sampled patients. RESULTS: In multivariate analysis, residents directly supervised by attending physicians had significantly (p