Implementation of a Routine Health Literacy Assessment at an Academic Medical Center

Area of Science:

• Health outcomes research
• Nursing practice
• Health literacy assessment

Background:

• Limited health literacy is a significant barrier to positive health outcomes.
• Screening tools can identify at-risk patients for timely intervention.
• Integrating assessments into routine care is crucial for efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the implementation of a hospital-wide routine health literacy assessment.
• To evaluate the feasibility and success of integrating this assessment into nursing workflow and electronic health records.
• To assess patient acceptance and ease of use of the screening process.

Main Methods:

• A multimethod study involving nursing-initiated implementation of a health literacy assessment for all adult inpatients.
• Documentation of results in the electronic health record to trigger care plans and alerts.
• Nursing surveys and retrospective chart abstraction of 1,455 patients.

Main Results:

• The screening process demonstrated good ease of use and adequate patient acceptance.
• 84% of patients were screened within six months of hospital-wide implementation.
• The assessment was successfully integrated into the nursing workflow and electronic health record.

Conclusions:

• Routine health literacy assessment is feasible and can be successfully implemented in academic medical centers.
• Integration into nursing workflow and EHRs is effective for identifying and supporting at-risk patients.
• This initiative highlights the potential for improving patient care through systematic health literacy screening.