Care at discharge: a critical juncture for transition to posthospital care

Care at discharge: a critical juncture for transition to posthospital care

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Series Title(s):
Pennsylvania patient safety advisory
Contributor(s):
Pennsylvania. Patient Safety Authority.
ECRI (Organization)
Institute for Safe Medication Practices.
Publication:
[Harrisburg, Pa.] : Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, c2008
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Aftercare -- organization & administration
Case Management -- organization & administration
Continuity of Patient Care -- organization & administration
Patient Discharge -- standards
Pennsylvania
United States
Genre(s):
Technical Report
Abstract:
Discharge is a critical juncture for transitioning to posthospital care, and incomplete discharge processes may cause harm to patients. From June 2004 to December 2007, more than 800 reports were submitted from hospitals through PA-PSRS identifying a variety of problems occurring at discharge. Approximately 30% of patients did not receive verbal or written discharge instructions before they left the facility. Lack of medication reconciliation was also evident. Essential components of the discharge process include educating the patient and his or her family, assessing the patient's understanding of the plan, scheduling follow-up appointments, organizing postdischarge services, confirming the medication plan, and reviewing with the patient what to do if a problem occurs. Understanding the pertinent requirements of healthcare regulatory agencies is an important part of discharge planning. Implementation of discharge planning upon patient admission, assignment of discharge coordinators, and use of checklists to facilitate standardization within the facility are risk reduction strategies to consider.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. (More information)
NLM Unique ID:
101569561 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101569561