Table 1. Admission and Hospital Characteristics Associated With the Working Schedules of Hospitalistsa.
| Characteristic | Quartile of Weighted Average of Hospitalist Schedules, % | P Value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | ||
| Admission Characteristics | |||||
| Patient age, mean (95% CI), y | 79.85 (79.76-79.96) | 79.90 (79.81-80.00) | 80.07 (79.97-80.16) | 79.87 (79.77-79.97) | .008 |
| LOS, mean (95% CI), d | 3.95 (3.94-3.96) | 3.97 (3.96-3.99) | 4.01 (4.00-4.02) | 4.03 (4.02-4.04) | .001 |
| No. of hospitalists, mean (95% CI) | |||||
| 3-d LOS | 1.62 (1.61-1.63) | 1.62 (1.61-1.64) | 1.55 (1.53-1.56) | 1.31 (1.30-1.32) | <.001 |
| 4-d LOS | 1.80 (1.78-1.81) | 1.80 (1.78-1.82) | 1.71 (1.69-1.72) | 1.43 (1.42-1.45) | <.001 |
| 5-d LOS | 1.97 (1.95-2.00) | 1.97 (1.95-1.99) | 1.87 (1.85-1.89) | 1.54 (1.52-1.56) | <.001 |
| 6-d LOS | 2.11 (2.08-2.14) | 2.10 (2.07-2.13) | 1.97 (1.95-2.00) | 1.64 (1.62-1.67) | <.001 |
| No. of comorbidities, mean (95% CI) | 5.35 (5.31-5.39) | 5.49 (5.44-5.53) | 5.54 (5.49-5.58) | 5.66 (5.62-5.70) | <.001 |
| No. of prior hospitalizations, mean (95% CI) | 1.00 (0.98-1.01) | 1.02 (1.01-1.04) | 1.03 (1.01-1.04) | 1.05 (1.04-1.07) | <.001 |
| DRG weights, mean (95% CI) | 1.04 (0.98-1.01) | 1.06 (1.05-1.06) | 1.07 (1.07-1.08) | 1.07 (1.07-1.08) | <.001 |
| Male | 38.90 | 38.76 | 39.06 | 39.18 | .75 |
| Medicaid | 22.31 | 20.74 | 19.54 | 22.20 | <.001 |
| Race | |||||
| White | 74.72 | 74.26 | 75.92 | 73.04 | <.001 |
| Black | 9.54 | 9.52 | 8.77 | 7.82 | |
| Hispanic | 13.64 | 14.32 | 13.30 | 17.19 | |
| Education, mean (95% CI), %b | 82.45 (82.32-82.58) | 82.82 (82.69-82.95) | 83.49 (83.37-83.62) | 81.83 (81.69-81.97) | <.001 |
| Admitted from community | 94.74 | 94.90 | 94.32 | 94.19 | <.001 |
| Emergency hospitalization | 80.37 | 83.69 | 81.01 | 80.62 | <.001 |
| Weekend hospitalization | 30.64 | 31.09 | 30.85 | 30.36 | .28 |
| Hospital Characteristics | |||||
| No. of beds, mean (95% CI) | 451.99 (447.03-456.95) | 508.25 (503.06-513.44) | 535.74 (530.66-540.32) | 536.08 (531.54-540.62) | <.001 |
| Location | |||||
| Rural | 14.86 | 9.12 | 6.56 | 7.31 | <.001 |
| Urban | 85.14 | 90.88 | 93.44 | 92.69 | |
| Type of hospital | |||||
| For profit | 27.81 | 31.80 | 36.56 | 43.01 | <.001 |
| Government | 17.93 | 11.23 | 7.17 | 6.14 | |
| Nonprofit | 54.26 | 56.96 | 56.27 | 50.86 | |
| Medical school affiliation | |||||
| Major | 12.13 | 13.34 | 15.09 | 20.76 | <.001 |
| Limited | 25.71 | 27.90 | 32.70 | 29.96 | |
| Graduate program | 5.70 | 4.46 | 3.19 | 3.93 | |
| None | 56.46 | 54.31 | 49.02 | 45.35 | |
| HCAHPS summary star ratingc | |||||
| 1-2 stars | 12.89 | 13.88 | 10.00 | 13.61 | <.001 |
| 3 stars | 52.09 | 54.22 | 53.64 | 54.17 | |
| 4-5 stars | 35.02 | 31.90 | 36.36 | 32.23 | |
Abbreviations: DRG, diagnosis-related group; HCAHPS, Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems; LOS, length of stay.
For each admitted patient who received all their generalist care from hospitalists, we determined the continuity score for each hospitalist providing care to that patient and calculated the average continuity score, weighted by the number of days each hospitalist provided care for that patient. These weighted mean continuity scores for each admission were then grouped by quartile, from lowest continuity score to highest continuity score.
Persons 25 years and older in the zip code with a high school education.
Summary star ratings were taken from HCAHPS, a patient satisfaction survey mandated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.