scholarly journals Quality assessment of discharge summaries from an emergency department in eastern Nepal

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 41-47
Author(s):  
Rajani Giri ◽  
R Bhandari ◽  
M Poudel ◽  
P P Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Drug Allergy ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Clinical Information ◽  
Discharge Summary ◽  
Admission Diagnosis ◽  
Discharge Diagnosis ◽  
Ease Of Access ◽  
Outpatient Settings ◽  
Discharge Summaries

Background: Discharge summaries are intended to transfer important clinical information from inpatient to outpatient settings and between hospital admissions. A good discharge summary helps physician to provide continuity of care which will in turn improve patient outcomes. Despite the importance of the discharge summary, there has been relatively little research in this area in Nepal. We therefore decided to review discharge summaries of patients discharged from emergency department in eastern Nepal.Objective: To assess the completeness of discharge summaries from emergency department. Methods: A total of 360 discharge summaries, representing 20% of discharge from the emergency department of B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Nepal were randomly selected and evaluated. Quality of discharge for completeness was evaluated using recommendations by Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospital for the presence or absence of the following key items: admission diagnosis, drug allergy, physical examination, significant laboratory test and results, discharge diagnosis, procedures, discharge medication (including dose and duration), follow up and attending physician signature.Results: The proportion of discharge summaries missing particular component of vital data ranged from less than 4% (no discharge medications) to 97% (no mention of drug allergy). Information was missing on patients discharge condition (74%), hospital course (61%), discharge instruction (57%) and the discharge diagnosis in (13%). Most of the discharge summaries were partially structured representing 75%. Ease of access to the diagnosis was 78%.Conclusions: Though most of the discharge summaries were structured and access to the diagnosis was 78%, considerable deficiencies in the completeness of discharge summaries were found. Health Renaissance 2015;13 (3): 41-47

scholarly journals 693. Performance of ICD Code Versus Discharge Summary based Query for Endocarditis Cohort Identification

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S448-S448
Author(s):  
H Nina Kim ◽  
Ayushi Gupta ◽  
Kristine F Lan ◽  
Jenell C Stewart ◽  
Shireesha Dhanireddy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infective Endocarditis ◽  
International Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Discharge Summary ◽  
Admission Diagnosis ◽  
Test Characteristics ◽  
Clinical Narrative ◽  
Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Icd 10 ◽  
Icd Codes ◽  
Discharge Summaries

Abstract Background Studies on infective endocarditis (IE) have relied on International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes to identify cases but few have validated this method which may be prone to misclassification. Examination of clinical narrative data could offer greater accuracy and richness. Methods We evaluated two algorithms for IE identification from 7/1/2015 to 7/31/2019: (1) a standard query of ICD codes for IE (ICD-9: 424.9, 424.91, 424.99, 421.0, 421.1, 421.9, 112.81, 036.42 and ICD-10: I38, I39, I33, I33.9, B37.6 and A39.51) with or without procedure codes for echocardiogram (93303-93356) and (2) a key word, pattern-based text query of discharge summaries (DS) that selected on the term “endocarditis” in fields headed by “Discharge Diagnosis” or “Admission Diagnosis” or similar. Further coding extracted the nature and type of valve and the organism responsible for the IE if present in DS. All identified cases were chart reviewed using pre-specified criteria for true IE. Positive predictive value (PPV) was calculated as the total number of verified cases over the algorithm-selected cases. Sensitivity was the total number of algorithm-matched cases over a final list of 166 independently identified true IE cases from ID and Cardiology services. Specificity was defined using 119 pre-adjudicated non-cases minus the number of algorithm-matched cases over 119. Results The ICD-based query identified 612 individuals from July 2015 to July 2019 who had a hospital billing code for infective endocarditis; of these, 534 also had an echocardiogram. The DS query identified 387 cases. PPV for the DS query was 84.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 80.6%, 87.8%) compared with 72.4% (95% CI 68.7%, 75.8%) for ICD only and 75.8% (95% CI 72.0%, 79.3%) for ICD + echo queries. Sensitivity was 75.9% for the DS query and 86.8-93.4% for the ICD queries. Specificity was high for all queries >94%. The DS query also yielded valve data (prosthetic, tricuspid, pulmonic, aortic or mitral) in 60% and microbiologic data in 73% of identified cases with an accuracy of 94% and 90% respectively when assessed by chart review. Table 1. Test Characteristics of Three Electronic Health Record Queries for Infective Endocarditis Conclusion Compared to traditional ICD-based queries, text-based queries of discharge summaries have the potential to improve precision of IE case ascertainment and extract key clinical variables. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

scholarly journals A Comparison of Emergency Department Admission Diagnoses and Discharge Diagnoses: Retrospective Study

2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
HS Chiu ◽  
KF Chan ◽  
CH Chung ◽  
K Ma ◽  
KW Au
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Retrospective Study ◽  
Diagnostic Accuracy ◽  
Diagnostic Tools ◽  
Admission Diagnosis ◽  
Discharge Diagnosis ◽  
Emergency Department Admission ◽  
Hospital Discharge Diagnosis ◽  
Male Sex

Objective To study the accuracy of emergency department admission diagnosis and the effect of investigations on diagnostic accuracy. Design Retrospective study in a two-month period. Setting Accident & Emergency Department of a public general hospital, which had four in-patient specialties – Medicine, Surgery, Paediatrics and Orthopaedics. Subjects All cases admitted through the emergency department in the study period. Main outcome measures Degree of correlation between emergency department admission diagnosis and hospital discharge diagnosis. Results Of all admission diagnoses, 71.4% fully or partially matched the final discharge diagnoses. The accuracy of diagnosis was statistically better in traumatic cases, the male sex and young adults. Diagnostic accuracy varied with the specialty involved and investigations taken. Conclusion History and physical examination remained the most important diagnostic tools in the emergency department. In general, simple investigations available at the emergency department were not helpful in improving diagnostic accuracy.

scholarly journals Common Diagnoses and Outcomes in Elderly Patients Who Present to the Emergency Department with Non-Specific Complaints

CJEM ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 516-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Quinn ◽  
Michael Herman ◽  
Daren Lin ◽  
Wendy Supapol ◽  
Andrew Worster
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Elderly Patients ◽  
Hospital Admission ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Discharge Diagnosis ◽  
Median Length ◽  
Aged Patients ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Ischemic Attack

AbstractObjectiveElderly patients often present to the emergency department (ED) with non-specific complaints. Previous studies indicate that such patients are at greater risk for life-threatening illnesses than similarly aged patients with specific complaints. We evaluated the diagnoses and outcomes of elderly patients presenting with non-specific complaints.MethodsTwo trained data abstractors independently reviewed all records of patients over 70 years old presenting (to two academic EDs) with non-specific complaints, as defined by the Canadian Emergency Department Information System (CEDIS). Outcomes of interest were ED discharge diagnosis, hospital admission, length of stay, and ED revisit within 30 days.ResultsOf the 743 patients screened for the study, 265 were excluded because they had dizziness, vertigo, or a specific complaint recorded in the triage notes. 419 patients (87.7%) presented with weakness and 59 patients (12.3%) presented with general fatigue or unwellness. The most common diagnoses were urinary tract infection (UTI) (11.3%), transient ischemic attack (TIA) (10.0%), and dehydration (5.6%). There were 11 hospital admissions with median length of stay of five days. Eighty-one (16.9%) patients revisited the ED within 30 days of discharge. Regression analysis indicated that arrival to the ED by ambulance was independently associated with hospital admission.ConclusionsOur results suggest that elderly patients presenting to the ED with non-specific complaints are not at high risk for life-threatening illnesses. The most common diagnoses are UTI, TIA, and dehydration. Most patients can be discharged safely, although a relatively high proportion revisit the ED within 30 days.

Quality of psychiatric discharge summaries: a service evaluation following the introduction of an electronic discharge summary system

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Abbas ◽  
T. Ward ◽  
M. H. Peivandi ◽  
E. McKenzie ◽  
K. Kujawska-Debiec ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Information ◽  
Electronic System ◽  
Discharge Summary ◽  
Service Evaluation ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Drug History ◽  
Icd 10 ◽  
Electronic Discharge Summary ◽  
Discharge Summaries

BackgroundThere has been a recent move in psychiatry towards the use of electronic discharge (e-discharge) summaries in an effort to improve the efficiency of communication between primary and secondary care, but there are little data on how this affects the quality of information exchanged.ObjectiveTo evaluate the quality of psychiatric discharge summaries before and after the introduction of the e-discharge summary system.MethodsA retrospective analysis of 50 dictated discharge summaries from 1 January to 1 July 2010 and of 50 e-discharge summaries from 1 January to 1 July 2012, evaluating for the inclusion of 15 key items of clinical information.ResultsThe average total score of the dictated summaries (mean=9.5, s.d.=2.0) was significantly higher (p<0.001) than the e-discharge summaries (mean=6.7, s.d.=1.8). There were statistically significant differences in five of the standards: findings of physical examination (p<0.001), ICD-10 code (p<0.001), forensic history (p<0.001), alcohol history (p<0.001) and drug history (p<0.001).ConclusionOur results revealed a decline in the quality of discharge summaries following the introduction of an electronic system. The reasons for this are unclear and require further analysis. Specific suggestions will depend on the local need, but include improvements in software design and layout as well as better education and training.

104 Assessing for Delirium in A District General Emergency Department—Why are We Failing and How can We Improve?

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i12-i42
Author(s):  
J Pickard ◽  
R Morris ◽  
I Crawford ◽  
R Mansi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Discharge Summary ◽  
Grand Round ◽  
Medical Patients ◽  
Delirium Assessment ◽  
Discharge Letter ◽  
Medical Emergencies ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Discharge Summaries

Abstract Introduction Delirium is among the most common of medical emergencies with a prevalence of 20% in adult acute general medical patients. Despite this delirium is underdiagnosed and treatment is variable. Assessment of delirium is missed or carried out unreliably in EDs. Methodology Using the Model for Improvement, we developed a driver diagram to plan our project. Assessing whether patients over 65 years old were assessed for delirium during their visit to the ED using a validated tool over a 6-month period. Evaluating the impact of our interventions using annotated run charts. Exclusion criteria—GCS under 13, NEWS2 greater than 5. Aim Identify current performance of delirium assessment in over 65 s in Weston General Hospital ED and improve to 100% of over 65 s screened. Assess whether this has been communicated in the discharge summary. Results Baseline data showed 22.2% (4/18) of patients meeting inclusion criteria were screened for delirium. We implemented multiple interventions over a 2-month period—discussing at ED handover, hospital wide email, presentation at grand round and displaying a poster in the ED. In the 6 weeks after the interventions were implemented there was increase to 45.4% (15/33) of patients over 65 screened. Delirium/cognitive impairment identified in 42.5% (48/113) of patients screened. This is higher than the national average of hospital admissions therefore it is likely people screen those who display signs of delirium. Cognitive impairment communicated in discharge letter in only 29.4% (33/113) of all patients. Conclusion There has been a great improvement in delirium screening. However, we did not meet our target of 100% of patients being screened. Interventions currently being implemented—addition of SQID tool to minors clerking document, addition of compulsory tick box delirium question on all discharge summaries. Further data will be collected to assess effectiveness of these interventions.

Improving Coded Data Entry by an Electronic Patient Record System

1996 ◽  
Vol 35 (02) ◽  
pp. 108-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Puerner ◽  
H. Soltanian ◽  
J. H. Hohnloser
Keyword(s):  
Phase I ◽  
Electronic Patient Record ◽  
Data Entry ◽  
Discharge Summary ◽  
Patient Record ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Electronic Patient Record System ◽  
Record System ◽  
Data Encoding ◽  
Discharge Summaries

AbstractData are presented on the use of a browsing and encoding utility to improve coded data entry for an electronic patient record system. Traditional and computerized discharge summaries were compared: during three phases of coding ICD-9 diagnoses phase I, no coding; phase II, manual coding, and phase III, computerized semiautomatic coding. Our data indicate that (1) only 50% of all diagnoses in a discharge summary are encoded manually; (2) using a computerized browsing and encoding utility this percentage may increase by 64%; (3) when forced to encode manually, users may “shift” as much as 84% of relevant diagnoses from the appropriate coding section to other sections thereby “bypassing” the need to encode, this was reduced by up to 41 % with the computerized approach, and (4) computerized encoding can improve completeness of data encoding, from 46 to 100%. We conclude that the use of a computerized browsing and encoding tool can increase data quality and the percentage of documented data. Mechanisms bypassing the need to code can be avoided.

Risk factors of hospital admissions and recurrent emergency department visits among pediatric asthma patients

2020 ◽  
pp. 1011-1015
Author(s):  
Abdullah Aldamigh ◽  
Afaf Alnefisah ◽  
Abdulrahman Almutairi ◽  
Fatima Alturki ◽  
Suhailah Alhtlany ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Emergency Department ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Pediatric Asthma ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
Asthma Patients

Pain-Prescription Differences - An Analysis of 500,000 Discharge Summaries

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saskia Preissner ◽  
Vishal B. Siramshetty ◽  
Mathias Dunkel ◽  
Paul Steinborn ◽  
Friedrich C. Luft ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pain Therapy ◽  
Opioid Analgesic ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Discharge Summary ◽  
Pain Reliever ◽  
Regulatory Guidelines ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Prescription Rates ◽  
East West ◽  
Discharge Summaries

Background: Pain-relief prescriptions have led to an alarming increase in drug-related abuse. Objective: In this study, we estimate the pain reliever prescription rates at a major German academic hospital center and compare with the nationwide trends from Germany and prescription reports from the USA. Methods: We analysed >500,000 discharge summaries from Charité, encompassing the years 2006 to 2015, and extracted the medications and diagnoses from each discharge summary. Prescription reports from the USA and Germany were collected and compared with the trends at Charité to identify the frequently prescribed pain relievers and their world-wide utilization trends. The average costs of pain therapy were also calculated and compared between the three regions. Results: Metamizole (dipyrone), a non-opioid analgesic, was the most commonly prescribed pain reliever at Charité (59%) and in Germany (23%) while oxycodone (29%), a semi-synthetic opioid, was most commonly ordered in the USA. Surprisingly, metamizole was prescribed to nearly 20% of all patients at Charité, a drug that has been banned for safety reasons (agranulocytosis) in most developed countries including Canada, United Kingdom, and USA. A large number of prospective cases with high risk for agranulocytosis and other side effects were found. The average cost of pain therapy greatly varied between the USA (125.3 EUR) and Charité (17.2 EUR). Conclusion: The choice of pain relievers varies regionally and is often in disagreement with approved indications and regulatory guidelines. A pronounced East-West gradient was observed with metamizole use and the opposite with prescription opioids.

scholarly journals P044 Can an electronic prescribing system ensure clear anticoagulation discharge communication?

2019 ◽  
Vol 104 (7) ◽  
pp. e2.49-e2
Author(s):  
Susie Gage
Keyword(s):  
Patient Safety ◽  
Discharge Summary ◽  
Electronic Prescribing ◽  
List Type ◽  
Heparin Infusion ◽  
National Patient Safety Agency ◽  
High Dependency ◽  
National Patient ◽  
Discharge Summaries

AimThe National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA)1 identified heparin as a major cause of adverse events associated with adverse incidents, including some fatalities. By ensuring good communication, this should be associated with risk reduction.1 The aim of this study was to ensure there is clear anticoagulation communication on discharge, from the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) electronic prescribing system (Philips), to the paediatric cardiac high dependency unit and paediatric cardiac ward. To investigate whether the heparin regimen complies with the hospital’s anticoagulant guidelines and if there is any deviation; that this is clearly documented. To find out if there is an indication documented for the heparin regimen chosen and if there is a clear long term plan documented for the patient, after heparin cessation.MethodsA report was generated for all patients who were prescribed a heparin infusion on PICU, between 1st January 2018 and 30th June 2018, from the Philips system. All discharge summaries from the PICU Philips system were reviewed. Only paediatric cardiac patients were included that had a heparin infusion prescribed on discharge, all other discharge summaries were excluded from the study. Each discharge summary was reviewed in the anticoagulant section; for the heparin regimen chosen, whether it complies with the hospital’s anticoagulant guidelines and if there was any deviation whether this was documented. The indication documented of which heparin regimen was chosen and whether a clear long term plan was documented after heparin cessation; for example if the patient is to be transferred onto aspirin, clopidogrel, warfarin or enoxaparin.Results82 discharge summaries were reviewed over the 6 month period between 1st January 2018 and 30th June 2018; 16 were excluded as were not paediatric cardiac, leaving 66 paediatric cardiac discharge summaries that were reviewed. 45 out of 66 (68%) complied with the hospital’s heparin anticoagulation guidelines. Of the 32% that deviated from the protocol; only 33% (7 out of 21) had a reason documented. Only 50% (33) of the summaries reviewed had an indication for anticoagulation noted on the discharge summary and 91% of discharge summaries had a long term anticoagulant plan documented.ConclusionThe electronic prescribing system can help to ensure a clear anticoagulation communication as shown by 91% of the anticoagulation long term plan being clearly documented; making it a more seamless patient transfer. On the Philips PICU electronic prescribing system there is an anticoagulant section on the discharge summary that has 3 boxes that need to be completed; heparin regimen, indication and anticoagulation long term plan. However, despite these boxes; deviations from the anticoagulant protocol were poorly documented as highlighted by only 33% having the reason highlighted in the discharge summary, only 50% of the indications were documented. Despite having prompts for this information on the discharge summary, the medical staffs needs to be aware to complete this information, in order to reduce potential medication errors and risk.ReferenceThe National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA). Actions that make anticoagulant therapy safer. NPSA; March 2007.

scholarly journals Study of potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH) for chronic conditions: what proportion are preventable and what factors are associated with preventable PPH?

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e038415
Author(s):  
Jennifer Johnston ◽  
Jo Longman ◽  
Dan Ewald ◽  
Jonathan King ◽  
Sumon Das ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Medication Management ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Discharge Diagnosis ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Study Sites

IntroductionThe proportion of potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH) which are actually preventable is unknown, and little is understood about the factors associated with individual preventable PPH. The Diagnosing Potentially Preventable Hospitalisations (DaPPHne) Study aimed to determine the proportion of PPH for chronic conditions which are preventable and identify factors associated with chronic PPH classified as preventable.SettingThree hospitals in NSW, Australia.ParticipantsCommunity-dwelling patients with unplanned hospital admissions between November 2014 and June 2017 for congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes complications or angina pectoris. Data were collected from patients, their general practitioners (GPs) and hospital records.Outcome measuresAssessments of the preventability of each admission by an Expert Panel.Results323 admissions were assessed for preventability: 46% (148/323) were assessed as preventable, 30% (98/323) as not preventable and 24% (77/323) as unclassifiable. Statistically significant differences in proportions preventable were found between the three study sites (29%; 47%; 58%; p≤0.001) and by primary discharge diagnosis (p≤0.001).Significant predictors of an admission being classified as preventable were: study site; final principal diagnosis of CHF; fewer diagnoses on discharge; shorter hospital stay; GP diagnosis of COPD; GP consultation in the last 12 months; not having had a doctor help make the decision to go to hospital; not arriving by ambulance; patient living alone; having someone help with medications and requiring help with daily tasks.ConclusionsThat less than half the chronic PPH were assessed as preventable, and the range of factors associated with preventability, including site and discharge diagnosis, are important considerations in the validity of PPH as an indicator. Opportunities for interventions to reduce chronic PPH include targeting patients with CHF and COPD, and the provision of social welfare and support services for patients living alone and those requiring help with daily tasks and medication management.

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