The Journal of mHealth Vol 3 Issue 5 (Oct/Nov) | Page 24

Automate Patient Discharge Communications to Reduce Readmissions

Automate Patient Discharge Communications to Reduce Readmissions

Automate Patient Discharge
Communications to Reduce
Readmissions
By Fonda Narke, Vice President of Product Strategy, West Corporation Healthcare
Practice
Effective patient communication is now
the highest priority issue among physicians and administrators in the U.S.
In the 2016 Cejka Search Healthcare
Perspectives study, more than 1,600
practicing physicians and healthcare
administrators were asked to rank the
importance of ten healthcare delivery
priorities. The vast majority of respondents ranked ‘patient communication’ as
their number one priority, more important than ‘quality outcomes’ which was
number 7 for physicians and number 4
for administrators.
The survey defined effective patient communication as “explaining medical information, such as care plans, medications
and patient responsibilities, in a way
that patients understand and improves
patient compliance.”

»» Is the patient able to understand
instructions from a care coordinator and effectively answer questions
about their health and make arrangements for transportation to their follow up appointment?
»» Who will be handling the communications on behalf of the patient? Will
it be the patient themselves or someone else?

Effective multi-faceted patient communication is the linchpin of a successful
transitional care management (TCM)
program. As such, providers ought to
focus on discharge communications
and begin while the patient is still in the
hospital.

This cognition assessment is important,
because if the patient demonstrates that
they are not capable of handling postdischarge communication, then a proxy
will have to be identified. This proxy will
be the one that will act on behalf of the
patient with the care coordinator.

Laying the Groundwork Prior to
Discharge

With the patient facing the provider, it
is the ideal time to capture permission
to discuss the patient’s health and also
the preferred means of communication
from the patient or proxy. This might
even include the best time of day to call,
the preferred method of communication,
and the frequency of communication.

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October/November 2016

Experienced healthcare professionals
know that effective communication with
patients is key for successful care transitions between the hospital and home
or rehab. Time and again, patients stop
adhering to meds or abandon therapies
altogether if follow up from providers
isn’t consistent. As such, a number of
communication best practices are recommended for today’s care transition management (TCM) programs which begins
prior to discharge and continues after the
patient leaves the hospital.
Best Practice #1: Provide Constant
Contact

Physicians are acutely aware that patient
communication is most critical during a
hospital discharge, when risks for lapses
in communication, coordination, quality, and safety are at their highest. The
result, too often, is that patients lose
the level of care management they need,
which can result in a return trip to the
hospital or worse.

A crucial step in planning communication prior to the patient’s discharge
includes evaluating his or her cognitive
skills. A few key determinations the
provider needs to make include:

in the process as possible, and be mindful
of patients’ communication preferences.
Of course, the need to maintain communication with patients will only heighten
post-discharge.

Basic health literacy also is important.
Train the patient to identify red flags in
their health. Teach them how to communicate these red flags to their care coordinator. Engage the patient to make them a
proactive advocate in their health evaluation, rather than a passive participant
that might let complications linger.
Finally, before discharging the patient,
schedule their follow-up appointment.
Communicate the date and time of the
appointment to the appropriate contact,
as well as the channel (i.e., text, home
phone, e-mail). Take this time to also
inquire as to whether transportation or
obtaining medicatio