Usage condition of transitional care quality indicators for chronic disease in 55 hospitals in China

Abstract

Objective To investigate the application status of transitional care quality indicators for chronic disease in hospitals in China so as to provide a reference for improving transitional care quality evaluation for chronic disease. Methods We selected nursing managers from 55 hospitals participating a national nursing conference in Shanghai in 2018 as subjects by convenience sampling. The self-designed hospital transitional care quality indicators questionnaire for chronic disease was used to investigate the usage condition of transitional care quality indicators for chronic disease in 55 hospitals. χ2 test was used to compare the utilization ratio of third-level indexes of transitional care of Class Ⅱand Class Ⅲ hospitals. Results Among 55 hospitals, the highest usage of first-level indexes was structure index (0.813±0.164) . The top 3 usage of second-level indexes included hospital readiness (0.932±0.047) , patient satisfaction (0.927±0.262) and adverse event rate (0.888±0.143) ; the bottom 3 usage included health status of patients (0.470±0.112) , external hospital extension (0.418±0.280) and connect inside and outside of hospital (0.309±0.149) . In importance of second-level indexes, the top 3 usage included the adverse event rate, hospital readiness and material resources; the bottom 3 usage involved the utilization ratio of medical resources, connect inside and outside of hospital and external hospital extension. There were statistical differences in the usage rates of medical resource indexes in ClassⅡand ClassⅢ hospitals, such as readmission rate, visiting rate in emergency department, hospital stay and mortality (χ2=9.406, 5.430, 6.339, 6.339; P<0.05) . Conclusions Among 55 hospitals of China, the transitional care quality evaluation for chronic disease is generally insufficient which is needed to be paid attention to. Hospitals needs to optimize the proportion of indexes, improve and pay more attention to the evaluation for process indicators and outcome indicators, and perfect management and monitor for transitional care. Key words: Chronic disease; Transitional care; Quality indicators; Investigation