Abstract
Abstract Background Ensuring comprehensive discharge letters is crucial for safe transitions from acute hospitals to community care. The 2013 National Standard for Patient Discharge Summary Information of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) 2013 outlines what items of information ought to be included in discharge summaries. On the wards, junior doctors often complete discharge documentation without consultant review. With technological advancements, tools like encrypted chat apps for medical care offer potential solution to improve communication and access to specialized reviews. We aimed to evaluate whether a specific app to access Consultant review could enhance discharge letter completeness. Methods We conducted a retrospective audit of discharge letters for inpatients admitted and discharged under a geriatric team between September 1st and December 23rd, 2023. The letters were divided in two groups: intervention, reviewed by a medical consultant, and control, including letters only signed off by non-consultant hospital doctors. Data access and approval were obtained from the hospital's Clinical Audit Committee; data collection utilized hospital information systems and Excel database, with minimal demographic data collected. SPSS facilitated data analysis. Each discharge letter was assessed for various items outlined in the HIQA guideline. The prevalence of inclusion of each item in each group was compared using non-paired Student t-test. Results We analysed 89 discharge letters, with 34 (38.2%) in the intervention group and 55 (61.7%) in the control group. Although most items showed no statistically significant difference between groups, the inclusion of investigation results significantly differed (91% in the intervention group versus 23% in the control group). Conclusion Our audit observed improved completeness of inclusion of investigation results in the intervention group. Future research should involve a larger sample from various teams to assess whether access to senior letter review via an encrypted app can consistently enhance discharge letter completeness.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
