scholarly journals Audit of documentation proficiency of emergency department patients who are discharged against medical advice before and after implementation of a checklist

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Sze Joo Juan ◽  
Ghee Hian Lim ◽  
Beng Leong Lim

Objective: Documentation of the discharge against medical advice (AMA) is poorly performed in the emergency department (ED). Little is known about the impacts of a checklist on this. Our study aimed to compare the quality of AMA documentation before and after implementation of a checklist.Methods: A retrospective review was conducted followed by a prospective study; each over three months of AMA interactions in our ED pre and post implementation of a checklist. An 11-point checklist was used to determine documentation quality during these two periods. Quality was assessed based on the number of points fulfilled on this tool. Documentation was classified as “good” (8-11), “average” (4-7) and “poor” (0-3). The primary outcome measured was the proportions of discharged AMA records that showed “good”, “average” and “poor” documentation. Secondary outcomes were compliance rates to each of the categories of the checklist before and after its use.Results: 339 and 309 complete records were retrieved from the retrospective and prospective arms respectively. The proportions of case records in the three grades before and after use of the checklist respectively were: poor, 199/339 (59%) vs. 7/313 (2%); fair, 133/339 (39%) vs. 66/313 (21%) and good 7/339 (2%) vs. 240/313 (77%); all p-values were statistically significant. There were also statistically significant differences in compliance rates to each of the categories of the checklist pre and post checklist implementation.Conclusions: This study shows improvement in quality and compliance rates in the audit categories after the implementation of an AMA checklist.

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Asseel Albayati ◽  
Steven Douedi ◽  
Abbas Alshami ◽  
Mohammad A. Hossain ◽  
Shuvendu Sen ◽  
...  

Background: A patient decides to leave the hospital against medical advice. Is this an erratic eccentric behavior of the patient, or a gap in the quality of care provided by the hospital? With a significant and increasing prevalence of up to 1–2% of all hospital admissions, leaving against medical advice affects both the patient and the healthcare provider. We hereby explore this persistent problem in the healthcare system. We searched Medline and PubMed within the last 10 years, using the keywords “discharge against medical advice,” “DAMA,” “leave against medical advice,” and “AMA.” We retrospectively reviewed 49 articles in our project. Ishikawa fishbone root cause analysis (RCA) was employed to explore reasons for leaving against medical advice (AMA). This report presents the results of the RCA and highlights the consequences of discharge against medical advice (DAMA). In addition, the article explores preventive strategies, as well as interventions to ameliorate leaving AMA.


Author(s):  
Sanaz Rouhbakhsh Halvaei ◽  
Hojat Sheikh Motahar Vahedi ◽  
Ayat Ahmadi ◽  
Maryam Sadat Mousavi ◽  
Alireza Parsapoor ◽  
...  

Discharge against medical advice (DAMA) is a common problem in the health-care system. It imposes risks to both patients and medical staff and could be the subject of ethical deliberation. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 on 400 patients who were discharged against medical advice from the emergency ward of Shariati Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Patients’ information was collected using clinical records and telephone calls. The collected data were analyzed using STATA software. DAMA rate was 12% in the emergency department of Shariati Hospital. Male gender was found to be a risk factor for DAMA (OR: 1.90; CI (95%): 1.44 - 2.52; P < 0.0001). In addition, younger patients were more likely to leave hospital against medical advice (p-value: 0.04). The more common reasons for DAMA were feeling better, long delay in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and the hectic ambience of the emergency ward. Patients’ self-discharge is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that is affected by patients’ characteristics, medical conditions and hospital circumstances. It raises some ethical concerns, mainly due to a conflict between patients’ autonomy and beneficence. It is helpful for the medical staff to create an effective relationship with patients who are at higher risk of DAMA, in order to increase their compliance and prevent the consequences of leaving hospital against medical advice.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolin Hoyer ◽  
Patrick Stein ◽  
Angelika Alonso ◽  
Michael Platten ◽  
Kristina Szabo

Abstract Background: Discharge against medical advice (DAMA) or premature leave (PL) from the emergency department represent relevant medical problems with impact on patient safety and potential medicolegal consequences. They may also indicate structural or procedural problems in the ED. To date, no dedicated analysis of DAMA/PL exists for neurological patients presenting to the ED. Methods: A retrospective observational study was performed of all patients with neurological complaints presenting to a German interdisciplinary emergency department between January and December 2017. DAMA/PL patients were compared to the total of patients who were admitted or discharged regularly (non-DAMA/PL). Results: Of all neurological cases, 3% left against medical advice and 2.2% left prematurely. DAMA/PL patients were younger (p<.001), and their presentation was more frequently self-motivated (p<0.001. Waiting times did not differ between DAMA/PL and non-DAMA/PL patients (p=.166) but treatment duration was significantly shorter in the former (p<.001) Headaches, seizures and sensory deficits were the most frequent presenting symptoms in DAMA/PL patients, and in 56.1% of those presenting with a seizure had a history of epilepsy. The most common documented reason for leaving was the length of waiting time. Conclusions: Both individual and structural/systemic reasons contribute to DAMA/PL in neurological patients. Optimization of pre-hospital assessment and the development of alternative models of care for patients with non-urgent conditions appear to be promising targets for future improvements regarding demand management and the direction of patient flow.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusriadi Yusriadi

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of hospital image and quality of service on Discharge Against Medical Advice (DAMA) via patient satisfaction at Majene District Hospital. This research was performed in the hospital room of the Majene District Hospital from July to August 2020. The type of analysis used is quantitative research to explain the dependent variable's effect on the independent variable and the mediating variable. This study population was all 102 patients with DAMA at Majene Hospital, as the population was deemed limited and the whole population was sampled. The test results of the coefficient of determination of the path analysis of substructure 1 resulted in a modified R square value of 0.235. In this case, it is argued that patient satisfaction is affected by the hospital picture and quality of service by 23.5 percent. In comparison, the remaining 76.5 percent is influenced by other variables not analysed in this review. The outcome of the measurement of standardized beta coefficients, the effect of the hospital picture (X1) on patient satisfaction (Y1) is 0.228, and the service quality (X2) on patient satisfaction (Y1) is 0.325.


Author(s):  
Eberechukwu Onukwugha ◽  
Aakash Bipin Gandhi ◽  
David Alfandre

Aim: Prior literature detailing the consequences of a discharge against medical advice (DAMA) has not focused on costs. We examine costs following a DAMA. Materials & methods: This retrospective cohort study utilized the IQVIA PharMetrics® Plus database to identify adults hospitalized during 2007–2015. We compared 30-day postdischarge healthcare costs between matched DAMA and routinely discharged groups. Results: Thirty-day healthcare costs for the DAMA group were US$1078 (95% CI: US$434–1730) higher, driven by inpatient readmissions (US$979; 95% CI: US$415–1543) and emergency department visits (US$79; 95% CI: US$56–102). Costs due to prescription drug fills were lower in the DAMA group. Conclusion: A DAMA was associated with higher 30-day postdischarge healthcare costs compared with routine discharges.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Gandung Satriyono ◽  
Desi Kristanti

The purpose of this study was to analyze patient satisfaction on the quality of inpatient services to DAMA (Discharge Against Medical Advice) intentions in the Pare District General Hospital of Kediri Regency. The results of the analysis of physician interaction quality data obtained significance values (P = 0.018 <α = 0.05), with the physician attitude indicator of significance value (P = 0.694> α = 0.05); indicator of physician behavior (P = 0.002 <α = 0.05); indicator of physician expertise (P = 0.027 <α = 0.05). Thus the quality of the doctor's interaction influences the patient's intention to go home. The results of data analysis on the quality of nurse interaction (P = 0.040 <α = 0.05) with indicators of nurse attitudes (P = 0.179> α = 0.05), indicators of nurse behavior (P = 0.023 <α = 0.05), indicators of expertise nurses (P = 0.034 <α = 0.05. Thus the quality of the interaction of nurses affects the intention of the patient to go home. The results of the influence of physical environmental quality on the patient's intention to go home forced (P = 0.177> α = 0.05), thus the quality The environment does not affect the intention of the patient to go home forced.The results of the effect of the quality of the results on the patient's intention to go home forcibly (P = 0.266> α = 0.05) Thus the quality of the results does not affect the patient's intention to go home. Tujuan Penelitian ini adalah menganalisis kepuasan pasien pada kualitas layanan rawat inap terhadap niat DAMA (Discharge Against Medical Advice) di Rumah Sakit Umum Daerah Pare Kabupaten Kediri. Hasil analisis data kualitas interaksi dokter diperoleh nilai signifikansi (P = 0,018 < α = 0,05), dengan indikator sikap dokter nilai signifikansi (P = 0,694 > α = 0,05); indikator  perilaku dokter (P = 0,002 < α = 0,05); indikator keahlian dokter (P = 0,027 < α = 0,05). Dengan demikian kualitas interaksi dokter berpengaruh terhadap niat pasien pulang paksa. Hasil analisis data kualitas interaksi perawat (P = 0,040 < α = 0,05) dengan indikator sikap perawat (P = 0,179 > α = 0,05), indikator perilaku perawat (P = 0,023 < α = 0,05), indikator keahlian perawat (P = 0,034 < α = 0,05. Dengan demikian kualitas interaksi perawat berpengaruh terhadap niat pasien pulang paksa. Hasil pengaruh kualitas lingkungan fisik terhadap niat pasien untuk pulang paksa (P = 0,177 > α = 0,05), dengan demikian kualitas lingkungan tidak berpengaruh terhadap niat pasien untuk pulang paksa. Hasil pengaruh kualitas hasil terhadap niat pasien untuk pulang paksa (P = 0,266 > α = 0,05). Dengan demikian kualitas hasil tidak berpengaruh terhadap niat pasien pulang paksa.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azar Hadadi ◽  
Patricia Khashayar ◽  
Mojgan Karbakhsh ◽  
Ali Vasheghani Farahani

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the main reasons for discharge against medical advice (DAMA) in the emergency department (ED) of a teaching hospital in Tehran, Iran. Design/methodology/approach – This cross-sectional study was conducted on all the patients who left the ED of a referral teaching hospital against medical advice (AMA) in 2008. A questionnaire was filled out for each patient to determine the reasons behind patient leaving AMA. Findings – In total, 12.8 percent of the patients left the hospital AMA. Dissatisfaction with being observed in the ED, having a feeling of recovery and hospital personnel encouraging patients to leave the hospital were the main reasons for leaving the hospital AMA. Practical implications – Like many other centers, the results showed that poor communication skill and work overload were the main contributing factors to DAMA. The center managed to improve patient satisfaction and thus lowered DAMA rates following this study. Considering the similarities reported in the reports and that of other studies, it could be concluded that policy makers in other centers can also benefit from the results to adopt effective approaches to reduce DAMA rate. Originality/value – To the knowledge no study has evaluated the rate and the reasons behind DAMA in the Iranian EDs.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 986
Author(s):  
Byeong-Keon Moon ◽  
Ryeok Ahn ◽  
Deulle Min ◽  
JaeLan Shim

Discharge against medical advice (DAMA) and readmissions are important issues worldwide and can lead to adverse clinical outcomes, financial burden, and exposure of healthcare workers to unintended medical disputes. This study aimed to identify factors that affect readmissions within 48 h after DAMA. This retrospective study utilized the medical records of patients who visited an emergency medical center in Korea for treatment and were readmitted during a 10-year period. Factors predicting readmission after being DAMA were identified using logistic regression analysis. The total number of patients who were DAMA during the study period was 5445, of which 351 were readmitted to the emergency department within 48 h (6.4%). Factors influencing readmission included medical aid (odds ratio (OR) = 2.02, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.46–2.83) and foreign worker insurance (OR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.04–4.09) as their health insurance, as well as presenting for readmission by car (OR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.08–1.82). Healthcare workers should treat patients who are DAMA and those who are likely to return with a more careful and preventative management strategy so that potential clinical, legal, and economic impacts of DAMA can be mitigated.


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