DISCHARGE INSTRUCTIONS
Accurate and Specific Out-patient Clinic Follow-up Instructions to Improve Communication and Presenteeism
PROJECT SUMMARY
Transitions in care are recognized high-risk times in a patient’s journey, maybe none more dangerous than being discharged home and following up in a new out-patient clinic. An audit of our practices revealed that the discharge instructions provided to patients varied greatly between providers, which resulted in multiple calls from the patients to the clinics or the ED. After compiling a list of the most frequently referred-to clinics from both EDs, we contacted the clinics’ managers and created an up-to-date contact list and broke the list based on whether the patients would be contacted automatically, there was already a time and date scheduled for them, or they were required to contact the clinic themselves. Additionally, we included generic discharge instructions to ensure the best possible care for our patients, on top of the verbal instructions provided directly to the patients.
PROJECT LEADS
Lindsay George, Tory Woolner
Term of project:
November 2015 – May 2016