Evidence map›Paper›PMID 11929504›Full record

ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2002

Effect of discharge summary availability during post-discharge visits on hospital readmission.

Carl van Walraven, Ratika Seth, Peter C Austin, Andreas Laupacis

4 registry-linked trialsOpen access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 4 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 128 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
128citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
6.1field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT00101868 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2004, after this paper: background citation

Value of Technology to Transfer Discharge Information

TypeinterventionalSponsorAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)Ran2004 to 2007Enrolled631ConditionsInformation Dissemination, Interprofessional RelationsArmsDischarge communication software, Usual care discharge process
NCT00670865 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2008, after this paper: background citation

Automated Versus Conventional Hospital Discharge Summaries and Prescriptions: A Randomized Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorUnity Health TorontoRan2008 to 2008Enrolled209ConditionsPatient Discharge, Continuity of Patient Care, Medical Records Systems, Computerized, Hospital Information SystemsArmsElectronic discharge summary system
NCT04093245 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2019, after this paper: background citation

Supporting the Creation of a LEARNing INteGrated Health System to Mobilize Context-adapted Knowledge With a Wiki Platform to Improve the Transitions of Frail Seniors From From Hospitals and Emergency Departments to the cOMmunity: Phase II

TypeinterventionalSponsorLaval UniversityRan2019 to 2022Enrolled4,000ConditionsTransition, Emergencies, Health Care Utilization, FrailtyArmsGEM nurse, pre- and post-hospitalization medication list reconciliation, systematic discharge summaries, medical follow-up appointment, follow-up phone call
NCT06608589 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2023, after this paper: background citation

CONSTELLATIONS Living Lab: Development, Implementation and Evaluation of a Patient-oriented Quality Improvement Program Targeting Care Transitions of Older Adults Living with Major Neurocognitive Disorders and Their Caregivers.

TypeinterventionalSponsorLaval UniversityRan2023 to 2026Enrolled700ConditionsAlzheimer Disease, Dementia, Neurocognitive DeclineArmsCoMPAS+ MNCDs Program - Quality improvement program targeting the care transitions of patients living with a major neurocognitive disorder and their caregivers
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

128 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 321 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Effect of integrated medicines management on quality of discharge medication information-a secondary endpoint in a randomized controlled trial.International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care · 2024
    Trial
  6. Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Trial
  11. Trial
  12. Trial
  13. Trial
  14. Trial
  15. Trial
  16. Trial
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

68 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Carl van WalravenDepartment of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Ottawa Health Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada. carlw@ohri.ca
Ratika Seth
Peter C Austin
Andreas Laupacis
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences · CAToronto Public Health · CAUniversity of Ottawa · CAUniversity of Toronto · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine if the delivery of hospital discharge summaries to follow-up physicians decreases the risk of hospital readmission. SUBJECTS: Eight hundred eighty-eight patients discharged from a single hospital following treatment for an acute medical illness.

settingTeaching hospital in a universal health-care system.

designWe determined the date that each patient's discharge summary was printed and the physicians to whom it was sent. Summary receipt was confirmed by survey and phoning each physician's office. Each patient's hospital chart was reviewed to determine their acute and chronic medical conditions as well as their course in hospital. Using population-based administrative databases, all post-hospitalization visits were identified. For each of these visits, we determined whether the summary was available.

main outcome measuresTime to nonelective hospital readmission during 3 months following discharge.

resultsThe discharge summary was available for only 568 of 4,639 outpatient visits (12.2%). Overall, 240 (27.0%) of patients were urgently readmitted to hospital. After adjusting for significant patient and hospitalization factors, we found a trend toward a decreased risk of readmission for patients who were seen in follow-up by a physician who had received a summary (relative risk 0.74, 95% confidence interval 0.50 to 1.11).

conclusionsThe risk of rehospitalization may decrease when patients are assessed following discharge by physicians who have received the discharge summary. Further research is required to determine if better continuity of patient information improves patient outcomes.

Indexed as

Access to InformationInterprofessional RelationsOutcome and Process Assessment, Health CarePatient ReadmissionAgedContinuity of Patient CareFemaleHospitalistsHospitals, TeachingHumansMaleMedical RecordsOdds RatioOntarioPatient DischargePhysicians, Family

Identifiers

PMID11929504
PMCPMC1495026
OpenAlexW2054498864

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.