Work-to-Faculty Ratios and Patient Outcomes: A Multi-Institutional Quasi-Experimental Study
This prospective, multi-institutional, quasi-experimental study will evaluate the relationship between daily patient-to-surgeon ratios and patient outcomes across trauma, emergency general surgery (EGS), and surgical intensive care unit (SICU) services. Ten Level I/II trauma centers will collect data over 12 months, using natural day-to-day variation in patient census and staffing to compare outcomes during periods of higher and lower patient-to-surgeon ratios.
The primary outcome is hospital length of stay, with secondary outcomes including ICU length of stay, discharge disposition, 30-day readmission, and mortality. The study will also identify service-specific patient-to-surgeon ratio thresholds above which outcomes deteriorate and examine whether these relationships differ by institutional characteristics.