Document Type
Practice Guidelines
Publisher
University of Montana Rural Institute
Publication Date
8-2017
Disciplines
Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Public Health
Abstract
Patients typically leave a hospital with numerous tasks that need to be performed in order to complete their treatment successfully. The discharge process is designed, in part, to describe the services a patient needs to secure or the tasks they need to perform in order to complete treatment and promote recovery once he or she gets home. Many of the orders or services planned should be implemented immediately or soon after discharge to be useful. Some involve additional medical treatment. Others may involve starting long-term services that address chronic conditions.
In this delicate transition, hospital staff may not convey the orders clearly or may not complete tasks. A patient preparing to leave the hospital may have limited time to follow the description or not be responsive to the staff. The patient may simply forget the information provided or misunderstand it. Written information may be difficult to read (e.g., small print, dense wording). Similarly, providers referenced in the plan may misunderstand, misinterpret, or simply forget. Accordingly, there is a need for methods to increase the likelihood that these orders are filled and needed treatments are completed. One approach is to monitor the implementation of these components of a discharge plan. This document is a brief practice guide outlining an early step in providing rural transition support, the verification of discharge orders.
Keywords
health and wellness, rural
Rights
© 2017 RTC:Rural
Granting Agency
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
Acknowledgement
Research leading to the preparation of this manual was supported, in part, by an award (AD 12-11-4788) from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The views presented in this manual are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, its Board of Governors or Methodology Committee.
Project Number
AD 12-11-4788
Recommended Citation
Seekins, T., Greene, S., Long, R., Wong, J., Eisenreich, B., Boehm, H., Sliter, L., & Smith, A. (2017). Providing patient-centered enhanced discharge planning and rural transition support: Verifying discharge orders during rural transitions. Missoula, MT: Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities, University of Montana.