Medical Team Training and Surgical Mortality

Featured Article

Neily J, Mills PD, Young-Xu Y, et al. Association between implementation of a medical team training program and surgical mortality. JAMA 2010;304(15):1693-17

Expert Reviews

Methodological Review: Tim Pawlik MD, MPH, PhD, FACS, Department of Surgery, John Hopkins University
Clinical Review: Amy Halverson MD, FACS, Department of Surgery, Northwestern University
Clinical Review: David Urbach MD, MSc, FRCSC, FACS, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto

Supplementary Article

Rubin DB. Estimating causal effects from large data sets using propensity scores. Ann Intern Med 1997;127:757-63

Propensity Score Matching Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propensity_score_matching

Questions

1. What is the clinical question being addressed?
2. What is the study design?
3. Was the intervention adequately described?
4. What is the data source?
5. Are the data accurate and valid?
6. Is the matching appropriate and are the 2 groups similar?
7. Were the results clinically and statistically significant?
8. Are the findings in this study generalizable to other institutions?
9. Identify potential biases that might account for differences in the conclusions?
10. State the conclusion. Have the authors addressed the clinical question posed?
11. Does the evidence support the conclusion?
12. Are further studies required?