THE EFFECT OF HOUSE OFFICER ROTATION ON INPATIENT SATISFACTION AND WARD ATMOSPHERE - PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

Continual rotation of house officers builds discontinuity into the phy sician-patient relationship in teaching hospitals. This has led to spe culation about the problem of residents and interns leaving their pati ents in the midst of hospital treatment. This article uses prospective data to assess the effect of house officer turnover on levels of pati ent satisfaction with hospital care and on patient perception of the h ospital environment. Two inpatient cohorts defined by whether or not t hey had undergone a house officer change were matched by age and diagn ostic category. Although survey instruments were significantly correla ted, there was no significant difference between the two inpatient coh orts overall or on any of the survey subscales. The survey showed good satisfaction with the hospital, doctors, and nurses in both test grou ps. The authors draw a preliminary conclusion that patient satisfactio n with medical care and with the hospital atmosphere remains constant, independent of termination of the doctor-patient relationship. Result s from other reports linking patient satisfaction with continuity of c are have been mixed, In discussing the limitations of their study, the authors point out that their findings are based on single-site data.