Background: Delays in the discharge of the hospital ward patients cause a backlog for new admissions from the Emergency Department, and transfers from the Intensive Care Units and telemetry units. This bottleneck unnecessarily increases overall resource utilization and also negatively impacts patient care and satisfaction. Therefore, our Internal Medicine Residency Program aimed through this quality […]

Background: Delays in the discharge of the hospital ward patients cause a backlog for new admissions from the Emergency Department, and transfers from the Intensive Care Units and telemetry units. This bottleneck unnecessarily increases overall resource utilization and also negatively impacts patient care and satisfaction. Therefore, our Internal Medicine Residency Program aimed through this quality […]

Background: Discharge summaries assist in the transition from inpatient to outpatient care by communicating key diagnoses, medication changes, and follow-up instructions. Despite use of standard formats for discharge summaries through electronic medical records (EMR), primary care physicians (PCPs) report dissatisfaction with locating important information in discharge summaries. Purpose: The aim of our project was to […]

Background: Discharge summaries assist in the transition from inpatient to outpatient care by communicating key diagnoses, medication changes, and follow-up instructions. Despite use of standard formats for discharge summaries through electronic medical records (EMR), primary care physicians (PCPs) report dissatisfaction with locating important information in discharge summaries. Purpose: The aim of our project was to […]

Background: The transition out of the hospital is a vulnerable time for patients and families and is ripe for physician training.  We implemented a discharge curriculum focusing on the competence of a ‘Safe and Effective Discharge (SAFE-D) From the Hospital’.  The primary objective for the SAFE-D innovation was to assess the usefulness of direct observation […]

Background: The discharge process is complex and high-risk. Clear and accurate communication between the physician or Advanced Practice Provider (providers), nurse, and patient are essential to ensure a safe and effective transition of care. Upon literature review, there have not been studies looking at interprofessional communication during the discharge process. Also, our institution (a large […]

Background: Commonly used discharge communication workflows hinder timely and efficient discharge. Studies exploring the use of the electronic health record (EHR) for discharge planning have been limited to electronic reports constructed from EHR data elements, including barriers to discharge documented at admission, care management data, and discharge criteria or other targeted interventions such as improving […]

Background: Increased scrutiny of length of stay (LOS) and readmission rates has led to a changing landscape for hospital medicine. Geographic rounding has been studied in academic settings with good results, including a decrease in LOS. Hospitalist groups not associated with teaching programs are trialing geographic rounding with multiple variations, though there is a paucity […]

Background: Press–Ganey survey data suggest that low self‐assessment of discharge preparedness is associated with hospital readmission. However, Press–Ganey data are collected after hospitalization, limiting the ability to respond to concerns. The intent of this project was to implement a predischarge patient satisfaction survey to determine if there was an association between low self‐assessed discharge readiness […]

Background: Multidisciplinary rounding (MDR) is a necessary component to safe and effective patient care and discharge during hospitalization. However, there are many barriers to daily MDR that can limit the effectiveness of the team. An interdisciplinary needs assessment of MDR at our institution revealed poor communication on plan of care and limited understanding of interdisciplinary […]