Emergency department discharges against medical advice

A retrospective chart review was performed on 52 consecutive discharges against medical advice (AMA) from an emergency department. The study's objective was to assess documentation of the medical record as well as the patients' perceptions of their experience. Sixty-seven percent of the charts reflected the competence of the patient. The physicians documented that the patients understood their diagnosis (36%), proposed treatment (44%), alternative therapy (2%), and the clinical consequences of refusal (57%). The discharge instructions included a referral to a physician 62% of the time. A post-visit survey contacting 46% of the group revealed that 82% of these respondents left because they didn't agree with the physician's management plan, although 70% of the patients were either "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with their interaction with the physician. These results suggest that more attention and better documentation needs to be directed to the patient who is leaving the emergency department against medical advice.