Bridging Inpatient and Outpatient Care: A Scoping Review on Discharge Summary Documentation Timeliness and Quality

Discharge summaries serve as comprehensive documentation of a patient's hospitalization and are essential for communicating with subsequent care providers. Despite their importance, discharge summaries often vary in both content and timing, leading to potential communication gaps that can adversely affect patient outcomes. # MethodsWe conducted a structured literature review using PubMed and Google Scholar, focusing on peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2025. Articles were included if they addressed the relationship between discharge summary completion time, quality, and patient outcomes.

Timely and high-quality discharge summaries are critical for effective communication between hospital-based and outpatient clinicians. Delayed or incomplete summaries are associated with increased readmission rates. Studies emphasize that the quality of the summary is equally, if not more, important than timeliness in ensuring continuity of care.

Discharge summary timeliness and content quality both significantly impact continuity of care and readmission risk. Standardization efforts and future innovations, including AI-assisted documentation, present promising opportunities for improvement.