Predictors and Outcomes of Patient Knowledge of Plan of Care in Hospital Medicine: A Quality Improvement Study

Abstract

Patient understanding of plan of care is associated with positive outcomes in ambulatory settings. In hospital medicine settings, patient-physician agreement on plan of care (concordance) has been limited and difficult to improve. This study examined the impact of adding a hospitalist to interdisciplinary rounds (IDR) on physician-patient-nurse concordance and the relationship between concordance and outcomes. IDR were conducted by core teams made up of unit-based nurses, a case manager, and a pharmacist. Over time, with cohorting, hospitalists were included in IDR (hospitalist IDR) for some patients assigned to unit-based hospitalists. In developing hospitalist IDR, the researchers emphasized using an IDR checklist, including a patient communication plan. Patient-nurse-physician interviews were used to assess concordance in the domains of diagnosis, tests and procedures, and expected discharge date. Using two-hospitalist review, agreement was rated as none, partial, or complete, and a total concordance score was calculated for each patient in both IDR groups. Multivariate analysis was used to examine the relationship between concordance, IDR type, patient factors, and utilization outcomes. For 658 patients, the mean concordance score was 11.71 out of a possible 18. There was no difference in concordance between hospitalist and core IDR groups (11.68 vs. 11.84, p = 0.7). Higher total concordance score was associated with lower lengths of stay (p < 0.001) and readmission rates (p = 0.001). Total concordance had a negative association with patient age (p = 0.04). Concordance did not change with IDR type. Higher concordance appears to be related to positive utilization outcomes. Future studies are needed to evaluate potential interventions to improve concordance.