Transitions of Care Flashcards
Goal and Risk of transition of info in the ED?
Goal: Transfer information AND clarify who is responsible for patient care
Risk: delay between info exhange and physical relocation
Information from ED to Hospitalist should include the following: (4)
- Principal dx and problem list (acute and pertinent chronic)
- Med list (home and current)
- Pt cognitive status
- Test results / pending results (and who is responsible for those pending)
Additional info/workup may be requested by accepting physician for the following reasons:
emergency department
- Determine level of inpatient care
- Determine the appropriate admitting service
- Based on timing to obtain critical information
- ED Boarding can be a problem!
what office/process may save hours of waiting in the ED/Help reduce ED overcrowding?
Ambulatory Office / Direct Admit
how does Ambulatory Office / Direct Admit help the transition of info in the ED?
Must carefully select the pt:
* Ensure admission to correct care location and ensure they are not at risk for deterioration prior to admit.
* Prolonged wait at admission could lead to decompensation
Selection Recommendations for Direct Admission: (4)
- Admitting dx is fairly certain/No additional triage is needed
- Pt is clinically stable – does not require supp O2, immediate IV fluids, abx or urgent imaging
- Has been evaluated on day of admission by PCP
- Arrives at hospital early in day (before 4 pm) to facilitate communication between the admitting physician and the hospital team before shift change
Clear communication between the PCP and hospitalist should occur and include:
- Rationale for admission
- Working diagnosis
- Problem list
- Key history components and recent changes
- Relevant laboratory and radiologic results
- Medication list and allergies
- Patient/family preferences and support system
risks and benefits of Outlying Facility / Hospital
- Higher severity of illness / Medically complex
- Some transfer pts have shown improved outcomes for disease-specific transfers
- overall - higher levels of morbidity and mortality that cannot always be accounted for by severity of illness alone; Benefit should outweigh risk
risks of interhospital prior to transfer
- Delay in care initiation d/t lack of expertise
- Delay in care finding an accepting facility/Delayed transport
- Inappropriate transfer
risks of interhospital during transfer
- Decompensation during transfer
- Arrival at night
- Arrival to inappropriate level of care
risks of interhospital after transfer
- Discontinuity of care plan
- Unnecessary and/or duplicative testing
- Medication errors
- Back-end discontinuity
- No shared EMR
cons of SNF outlying facility for transition of info?
- Medically complex, frequently unable to provide a coherent MHx or describe their drug regimen.
- MC non-specific complaints (falls, dehydration, or confusion) and w/o accurate info, will result in more investigations, particularly head CTs.
- Less likely to be accompanied by a relative or caregiver
- Up to 10% transferred to ED w/o any documentation and up to an additional 40% are missing info - baseline cognitive function, current meds, and advance directive status
- At risk for med errors, unnecessary testing, and inappropriate/unwanted care
transitino responsibility of the ED
- Do pts leave the ED immediately after being accepted for admission?
- What problems might this cause?
- Institutions should develop a clear plan for transfer of responsibility: plan for shift changes and standardized order sets started before to an inpatient unit
When patients are admitted from the outpatient clinic setting or skilled nursing facilities, ____ is responsible for the patient while they remain at their facility and once the patient leaves they become the responsibility of the accepting provider.
the admitting/transferring provider
When admitting a patient, you must choose an admission status:
inpt or outpt
what is the 2-Midnight rule?
Used to guide if inpt or outpt
* Outpatient - admitting physician expects pt to need to stay in hospital < 2 midnights.
* Inpatient - pt to stay in the hospital across 2 midnights
Providers should treat patients as what admission type until expectations develop?
outpatient
What are the 3-4 unit types available at most hospitals
- ICU - broken down by systems or specialty in large centers
- IMC / Step Down Units - May not be present in smaller hospitals
- Telemetry Units - continuous ECG monitoring
- Medical / Surgical Wards - non-monitored units
may start in one unit and transfer to one or more other units throughout admission, based on condition
Complex hospital care delivery models have resulted in:
- increased fragmentation of care
- Created greater need for care coordination and focus on transitions, particularly for hospitalized elderly population
a fluid, dynamic exchange regarding a patient on admission, change of service, discharge, or any other time of communication
handoff
Handoffs are subject to and dependent on what?
- Subject to distraction and interruptions.
- Dependent on on-coming clinician’s confidence in the quality and completeness of the information.
what is the MC root cause of sentinel events
teamwork
communication
3 types of intrahospital handoffs
- shift change
- service change
- service transfer
The transfer of content and professional responsibility from one clinician to another at the end of the shift.
shift change