A study led by researchers at Boston-based Harvard Medical School found newly trained physicians with high board certification exam scores led to lower risk of patient deaths and hospital readmissions.
The study, published May 6 in JAMA, analyzed 6,898 newly trained hospitalists who treated Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries during 455,120 hospitalizations from 2017 to 2019.
The researchers found no associations between overall milestone ratings or medical knowledge ratings and hospitalization outcomes, but they did find an association between certification exam score and reduced seven-day mortality and readmissions.
The top exam score quartile was associated with an 8% reduction in seven-day mortality rates and a 9.3% drop in seven-day readmission rates. Top exam scores also corresponded to a 3.5% decrease in 30-day mortality and 2.4% more consultations.
"These results confirm that certification exams are measuring knowledge that directly translates into improved outcomes for patients," senior author Bruce Landon, MD, professor of healthcare policy at Harvard and an internal medicine physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said in a May 6 Harvard news release.