Information Transfer at Hospital Discharge: A Systematic Review

Sharma Kattel ¹, Dennis M Manning ², Patricia J Erwin ³

⁰From the Department of Hospital Medicine, Mayo Clinic Health System, Albert Lea.

Journal of Patient Safety +

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January 8, 2016

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

Timely and complete hospital discharge summaries are crucial for patient safety. Electronic summaries improve timeliness but not consistently the quality of information shared with primary care providers.

Area Of Science

Healthcare Informatics
Patient Safety
Health Services Research

Background

Effective patient care relies on prompt, complete, and accurate information transfer from hospitals to primary care providers (PCPs).
Gaps in discharge information can compromise patient safety and care continuity.

Purpose Of The Study

To evaluate the timeliness and quality of hospital discharge summaries.
To assess interventions aimed at improving the timeliness and quality of discharge summaries.

Main Methods

A systematic review of observational and controlled studies published between 2007 and 2014.
Searches conducted across major scientific databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus).
Data extraction focused on summary availability, timeliness, content, and intervention effectiveness.

Main Results

Discharge summaries were completed within 48 hours for a median of 67% of patients, but only available to PCPs within 48 hours 55% of the time.
Summaries commonly included demographics and diagnoses, but lacked details on pending tests (25%), performed tests (60%), and post-discharge medications (78%).
Electronic discharge summaries improved timeliness and availability in 6 interventional studies, but did not consistently enhance summary quality.

Conclusions

Delayed or incomplete discharge information transfer between hospitals and PCPs is a persistent issue.
Electronic discharge summaries show promise for improving timeliness and availability but require further development to consistently enhance information quality.