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Hospital Discharge Planning-An Investigation of Outcomes and Interventions
Lena Imhof1, Robin Heber2, Kai Svane Blume2
1Hamburg Center for Health Economics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Health Services Research
|October 23, 2025
Summary
Hospital discharge planning (DP) interventions show strong evidence for reducing readmissions and improving patient satisfaction. High-intensity, bundled programs with medication support are most effective, though evidence for other outcomes like quality of life remains weak.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Patient Care Coordination
- Evidence Synthesis
Background:
- Effective hospital discharge planning (DP) is crucial for patient outcomes.
- Systematic reviews have examined various DP interventions and their impact.
- A comprehensive overview of the evidence strength is needed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize findings from systematic reviews on hospital DP interventions.
- To assess the strength of evidence (SoE) for DP's association with various patient outcomes.
- To identify effective DP strategies and research gaps.
Main Methods:
- Umbrella review methodology, synthesizing existing systematic reviews.
- Searched five databases and conducted citation searches for relevant systematic reviews.
- Assessed methodological quality (AMSTAR 2) and evaluated SoE for 19 outcomes.
Main Results:
- Identified 20 DP intervention types, with patient education being most common.
- High SoE for reduced readmissions, fewer medication discrepancies, and greater patient satisfaction.
- Weak evidence for outcomes like quality of life and mortality; high-intensity, bundled interventions showed most promise.
Conclusions:
- Evidence supports tailored DP strategies, particularly high-intensity, bundled interventions.
- Research gaps exist in standardizing definitions, outcome measures, and exploring causal mechanisms.
- Future studies should focus on refining DP interventions and outcome assessment.
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