Background: Discharging patients is a complicated process that requires planning, coordination and communication between multiple care team members. Ideally this process begins at admission and is updated in real time as the patient care plan evolves and discharge needs become known. Discharge plans are often made using some form of static communication, such as in-person [...]

Background: The Institute of Medicine includes patient-centeredness as an essential component of high-quality patient care. One dimension of patient-centeredness is the need for physicians to provide clear communication to patients (1). The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey also measures physician communication skill.Patient perception of physician communication is complex. Visual aids [...]

Background: Quality and patient safety initiatives are often role-specific with minimal emphasis on cross-discipline collaboration and communication. Prior to project implementation, each discipline’s patient care plans were made in silos without an aligned emphasis on quality and safety initiatives. With implementation of a daily interdisciplinary safety brief based on a shared mental model, our aim [...]

Background: Late afternoon hospital discharges contribute to admission delays, leading to occupancy increase and increased length of stay. However, prominent workplace barriers often exist towards improvement initiatives that target early discharge. Team members cite timing of rounds, absence of early discharge support resources, communication breakdowns, and increased daytime admission volume as barriers to change. Furthermore, [...]