Reduced resident "code blue" experience in the era of quality improvement: New challenges in physician training

Abstract

PURPOSE: Emergency resuscitation or "code blue" is a clinical event through which responding medical residents gain experience and proficiency. A retooling of practice has occurred at academic medical centers since the emergence of quality improvement initiatives and resident duty hours limits. The authors investigated how these changes may impact code blue frequency and resident opportunities to gain clinical experience. METHOD: The authors conducted a single-center, retrospective (2002-2009) review of monthly code blue frequency. They compared code blue frequency with corresponding monthly first-year internal medicine resident call schedules (2002-2008 academic years). Using a Monte Carlo simulation they estimated annual code blue experience, and using Poisson regression, they estimated annual trends in resident code blue experience. RESULTS: The authors detected a 41% overall reduction in code blue events between 2002 and 2008; code blue events decreased by 13% annually (P