STREAMLINING DISCHARGE PLANNING FOR PATIENTS RETURNING TO NURSING-HOMES - THE ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF MEDICAL RECORDS

The timely communication of medical information among health care prov iders is essential to maintaining quality care for older adults moving between health care facilities. Focusing on the evaluation phase of t he discharge planning process, this study examined whether the evaluat ion time spent by hospital discharge planners and floor nurses could b e reduced by replacing the customary telephone procedure with an elect ronic transmission procedure (a) to expand the information base commun icated to nursing homes and (b) to send this enriched information earl ier in the discharge process. Using a quasi-experimental design, 31 di scharges from a midwestern hospital to seven nursing homes were examin ed. Sixteen hospitalized nursing home residents were evaluated via the usual telephone procedure and 15 were evaluated using a facsimile mac hine to communicate medical and psychosocial information. The average time spent to complete discharge evaluations was reduced from 3.8 to 3 .2 hours. A substantial reduction also occurred in the number of telep hone calls for purposes of evaluation. Electronic transmission of pati ent information offers promise of more comprehensive and timely discha rge services, particularly for high needs patients.