S388 PRESENTATIONS

through resident-lead morbidity and mortality conferences, whilesimultaneously gaining exposure to the mandatory ACGME CoreCompetencies. The conference style aims to facilitate interdepart-mental communication, foster a non-confrontational environmentin which to review medical and systems-based misses and nearmisses, and utilize discussion as a method to sponsor qualityimprovement throughout the department.Setting: Physical medicine and Rehabilitation Residency ProgramParticipants: Physical medicine and Rehabilitation Residents, G2to G4; faculty facilitatorInterventions: The development of quarterly, resident-leadmorbidity and mortality conferences using systems-based analysesattended by faculty and residents. The sessions are also used asa vehicle to address the six ACGME Core Competencies and theNext Accreditation System Milestones.Main Outcome Measures: Implementation of the newcurriculum, annual resident survey results regarding participationin quality improvement projectsResults or Clinical Course: The curriculum was successfullyimplemented into the regular resident didactic schedule ona quarterly basis. During these sessions, two cases involving missesor near-misses are presented by residents and reviewed in a multi-disciplinary setting using a systems-based approach and in anenvironment that facilitates discussion on systems improvement soto prevent similar incidences from occurring in the future. Thiscurriculum change has been well received by the residents involvedas illustrated by survey results which revealed that 74% of residentsstated that they were involved in a quality improvement project in2011-2012 prior to implementation of this curriculum as comparedto 86% who became involved afterward.Conclusions: Conducting multidisciplinary, resident-runmorbidity and mortality conferences using a systems-based approachis an effective way to foster productive discussions both within andbetween disciplines, in an effort to identify and rectify systems-basederrors to prevent recurrences. This is achieved through qualityimprovement projects, ideas for which frequently stem from theseconferences. Morbidity and mortality conferences are also an effectivemethod of reviewing the ACGME Core Competencies with residents.

Poster 579Improving Accuracy of Patient Information ona Standardized Online Physician Handoff Tool.Satinderpal Dhah, DO (University of Texas HealthScience Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States);Marie Frando, MD; Ekta Gupta, MD; Siddarth Thakur, MD;Alan Swearingen, MD; Victor H. Chang, MD.

Disclosures: S. Dhah, No Disclosures: I Have No RelevantFinancial Relationships to Disclose.Objective: To improve the accuracy of patient informationdocumented by housestaff and attending faculty on a customized,standardized, HIPAA-compliant online physician handoff tool usedin a two hospital, multi-service rehabilitation call pool with dailycross-coverage.Design: One-group pretest-posttest.Setting: 9 clinical inpatient rehabilitation services in 2 hospitals.Participants: 29 housestaff and 16 attending faculty in multi-service rehabilitation call pool.Interventions: Implemented a program-wide survey enlistingparticipant opinions regarding handoff tool format, teamed with

supportive faculty member to encourage participation of colleagues,and provided direct technical support to handoff tool users in aneffort to improve compliance.Main Outcome Measures: Percentage accuracy and numberof qualitative errors regarding patient information on onlinehandoff tool, stratified by individual service and presence orabsence of resident staff.Results or Clinical Course: Overall handoff tool accuracyincreased from 86% to 96% and number of qualitative errorsdecreased from 44 to 6. Accuracy increased from 92% to 96% onservices with a resident and from 81% to 95% on services withouta resident.Conclusions: Enlisting the involvement of clinician users, andproviding direct technical support when needed, led to increasedpercentage accuracy and an absolute reduction of qualitative errorsregarding patient information on our standardized online physicianhandoff tool.

Poster 580Factors Influencing Research Participation by PM&RResidents.Saint Adeogba, MD (University of Arkansas for MedicalSciences, Little Rock, AR, United States);Kevin M. Means, MD.

Disclosures: S. Adeogba, No Disclosures: I Have No RelevantFinancial Relationships to Disclose.Objective: To survey the residents enrolled in accredited Phys-ical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) programs across theUnited States in order to determine the extent, conditions, diffi-culties, barriers, and resources associated with conducting research;to identify characteristics and future plans of PM&R residents withregard to research.Design: Descriptive survey.Case Description: N/AProgram Description: N/ASetting: N/AParticipants: Residents enrolled in 78 accredited PM&Rprograms in the continental United States during academic year2013-2014.Interventions: We distributed a 20-item electronic survey to theabove participants. The survey was voluntary and anonymous.Consent was implied based upon survey participation.Main Outcome Measures: Research Background, ResearchImpediments, Career Path and Demographics.Results or Clinical Course: 80% of respondents participated inresearch and 89% were in residency programs with a researchrequirement. 68% of residents had not submitted a publicationbased on their research although 36% were preparing a publication.The two most common difficulties with research participation citedwere insufficient time (73%) and clinical responsibilities (64%).36% of the respondents planned to enter academic practice and50% planned to have some future involvement in research.Discussion: N/AConclusions: Although a relatively large percentage of residentswere participating in research, there was a significant disparitybetween research participation and publication. Research resultingin publications may be facilitated by increasing protected researchtime and decreasing clinical responsibilities.