TREAT AND RELEASE
Improving care for patients who are discharged from the emergency department after assessment but asked to return in 12 to 72 hours for follow-up care.
PROJECT SUMMARY
A Quality Improvement project aimed at the improvement of Treat and Release (T&R) patients’ follow-up care. These patients are those deemed well enough to be discharged from the emergency department (ED) after their assessment but asked to return in 12 to 72 hours for follow-up care. The aim of this project was to have at least 90% of T&R charts having a complete, documented plan of care for T&R, including the chart from the first visit made available to the HCP on the return visit by September 1st, 2017.
Overall, an improvement in the quality of documented plans of care and follow-up plans has been achieved. This improves the quality of care provided to patients as there is a stronger continuity of care, less confusion for the HCP on the follow-up day, and a more expedited plan of care for the patient. All in all, these changes will aid in improving the patient experience within our EDs. We achieved our stated aim by having quality documented plans of care and reduced the time to disposition (from initial assessment to discharge) by 36% (from baseline median 69 minutes to median 44 minutes).
PROJECT LEADS
Victoria Woolner
Team members: Lindsay George, Jackie De Leon, Sahand Ensafi
Term of project: April-June 2017