Patient Perspectives of the Hospital Discharge Process: A Qualitative Study

Care transitions after hospitalization require communication across care teams, patients, and caregivers. As part of a quality improvement initiative, we conducted qualitative interviews with a diverse group of 53 patients who were recently discharged from a hospitalization within a safety net hospital to explore how patient preferences were included in the hospital discharge process and differences in the hospital discharge experience by race/ethnicity. Four themes emerged from participants regarding desired characteristics of interactions with the discharge team: (1) to feel heard, (2) inclusion in decision-making, (3) to be adequately prepared to care for themselves at home through bedside teaching, (4) and to have a clear and updated discharge timeline. Additionally, participants identified patient-level factors the discharge planning team should consider, including the social context, family involvement, health literacy, and linguistic barriers. Lastly, participants identified provider characteristics, such as a caring and empathetic bedside manner, that they found valuable in the discharge process. Our findings highlight the need for shared decision-making in the discharge planning process to improve both patient safety and satisfaction.