Discharge planning curricula in internal medicine residency programs: a national survey

Transition of patient care from an inpatient to outpatient setting is a critical aspect of patient care. The objectives of this study were to describe the content and evaluation of the discharge planning curricula (DPC) in internal medicine (IM) residency programs and identify program directors' perceptions of discharge planning education.

A 24-item questionnaire was sent to 387 IM program directors during April 2005. The analysis was conducted using SPSS (version 15).

A total of 140 program directors (PDs) responded. Formal DPC was offered in 16% (n = 23) of the programs. Hospital resources to coordinate transition of care and communication skills were the main curricular content areas. Seventy-five percent of the PDs agreed that discharge planning should be an important part of the curriculum. More than 50% of the PDs agreed that discharge planning would decrease the re-admission rate, and increase patient satisfaction and referring physician satisfaction. The programs with a DPC had a higher level of agreement that a DPC program would facilitate continuity of care between inpatient and outpatient care (P = 0.027) compared to programs without a DPC.

The majority of the PDs agreed that DPC should be an important curricular component, yet only a few programs offered formal discharge planning education. Residency programs need to address this critical aspect of patient care within the core curricula.