Bianca M. Buurman|Kim J. Verhaegh|Marian Smeulers|Hester Vermeulen|Suzanne E. Geerlings|Susanne M. Smorenburg|Sophia E. de Rooij
Improving handoff communication from hospital to home: the development, implementation and evaluation of a personalized patient discharge letter
Academic Medical Center|Academic Medical Center|Academic Medical Center|Academic Medical Center|Academic Medical Center|Academic Medical Center
develop implement evaluate personalized patient discharge letter ppdl improve quality handoff communication hospital home end 200609 conducted quality improvement project consisting beforeafter evaluation design process evaluation four general internal medicine wards 1024bed teaching hospital amsterdam netherlands consecutive patients 18 years older admitted least 48 h ppdl plain language handoff communication tool provided patient hospital discharge verbal written information provision discharge feasibility integrating ppdl daily practice pass rates ppdls provided discharge total 141 patients participated beforeafter evaluation study results first phase quality improvement showed providing patient ppdl increased number patients receiving verbal written information discharge patient satisfaction ppdl 73 level implementation low 30 second phase level implementation improved incorporating ppdl electronic patient record epr professional education average 57 discharged patients received ppdl upon discharge number discharge conversations also increased patients professionals rated ppdl positively key success factors implementation education interns residents staff standardization content ppdl integrating ppdl electronic medical record hospitalwide policy