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https://hdl.handle.net/2440/79045
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Type: | Journal article |
Title: | Timeliness in discharge summary dissemination is associated with patients' clinical outcomes |
Author: | Li, J. Yong, T. Hakendorf, P. Ben-Tovim, D. Thompson, C. |
Citation: | Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 2013; 19(1):76-79 |
Publisher: | Blackwell Science Ltd |
Issue Date: | 2013 |
ISSN: | 1356-1294 1365-2753 |
Statement of Responsibility: | Jordan Y. Z. Li, Tuck Y. Yong, Paul Hakendorf, David Ben-Tovim and Campbell H. Thompson |
Abstract: | <h4>Rationale, aims and objectives</h4>To determine the relation of the readmission rate of general medical patients to either the existence of a discharge summary or the timeliness of its dispatch.<h4>Methods</h4>This was a retrospective study on discharge summaries of all discharges from the general medical service at a tertiary referral teaching hospital from January 2005 to December 2009. The main outcome measures were readmission rate to hospital within 7 or 28 days of discharge<h4>Results</h4>A total of 16 496 patient admissions were included in the analysis. Of these discharges, 3397 (20.6%) patients did not have a summary completed within a week of discharge. There were significant linear trends between patients' readmission rates within 7 (P < 0.001) or 28 days (P < 0.001) and categories reflecting the delay in dispatch of their discharge summaries. The absence of a discharge summary was associated with a 79% increase in the rate of readmission within 7 days [95% confidence interval (CI) 42 to 124% increase; P < 0.001] and a 37% increased rate of readmission within 28 days (95% CI 17 to 61% increase; P < 0.001). If aged less than 80 years, the absence of a discharge summary was associated with a 127% increase in readmission rate within 7 days (95% CI 72 to 202% increase; P < 0.001) and a 55% increase within 28 days (95% CI 25 to 91% increase; P < 0.001) after discharge.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Delayed transmission or absence of a discharge summary is associated with readmission of the patient; more so in patients less than 80 years old. If no summary is generated by 7 days after discharge, the rate of readmission within 7 or 28 days after discharge is indistinguishable from no summary being written at all. |
Keywords: | discharge summary general medicine readmission rate |
Rights: | © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. |
DOI: | 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01772.x |
Published version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01772.x |
Appears in Collections: | Aurora harvest Medicine publications |
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