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Some hospitals improving quality of care during off-hours

Quality Improvement Monitor, May 30, 2008

Some hospitals are trying to improve the care patients receive on nights and weekends, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Higher rates of death, complications and medical errors occur during off-hours when hospitals have fewer staff.

Some hospitals are hiring physicians who work only night shifts, the Journal said. Other facilities are creating new policies to improve handoff communication between the day and night shifts.

"People get sick 24 hours a day, but there is a stark discrepancy in the quality of care on nights and weekends" when 50% to 70% of patients may be admitted, David Shulkin, MD, chief executive of New York's Beth Israel Medical Center, told the paper.

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