Interdisciplinary Rounds and Structured Communication Reduce Re-Admissions and Improve Some Patient Outcomes

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety
• Clinical Communication

Background:

• Effective hospital communication is crucial for achieving situation awareness among staff regarding patient condition and trajectory.
• Multidisciplinary care requires structured, consistent communication to foster a shared understanding of patients and care plans.
• Lack of standardized communication can hinder optimal patient outcomes and satisfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of the Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) protocol and daily interdisciplinary rounds (IDR) on patient outcomes.
• To assess improvements in patient satisfaction, Foley catheter removal compliance, and hospital re-admission rates.
• To determine the effectiveness of structured communication in enhancing situation awareness within medical/surgical units.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of the Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) protocol for structured communication.
• Introduction of daily interdisciplinary rounds (IDR) for collaborative patient assessment.
• Assessment of Foley catheter removal compliance rates over a three-year period.
• Analysis of patient re-admission rates before and after intervention.
• Monitoring of patient satisfaction trends.

Main Results:

• Foley catheter compliance significantly improved from 78% to 94% over the study period.
• Hospital re-admission rates decreased significantly from 14.5% to 2.1%.
• Patient satisfaction showed a positive trend, although it did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusions:

• The Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) protocol and daily interdisciplinary rounds (IDR) demonstrably enhance situation awareness.
• These structured communication interventions are valuable for improving key patient care metrics, including Foley catheter compliance and re-admission rates.
• Continued advocacy for SBAR and IDR is recommended to maintain focus on critical patient data and optimize care quality.