Key result
An online survey of 1,060 physicians in Austria found that 97.9% consider the discharge summary a communication tool among physicians, while 73.5% also view patients as addressees.
Why the study?
Discharge summaries sometimes have poor content quality and often include medical jargon not easily understood by patients and relatives, posing risks to patient safety.
Cross-Sectional (n=1,060)
Physicians primarily view discharge summaries as doctor-to-doctor communication tools, though a majority recognize patients as secondary addressees, highlighting a need for patient-comprehensible content.
Physicians largely view discharge summaries as interprofessional tools; leaves open optimal patient engagement strategies in care transitions.
OBJECTIVES: The discharge summary (DS) represents one of the most important instruments to ensure a safe patient discharge from the hospital. They sometimes have poor quality in content and often include medical jargon, which the patient and their relatives cannot easily understand. Therefore, many risks for patient safety exist. This study investigated the questions for whom the DS is and which contents are necessary to ensure a safe treatment. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis. SETTING: Styria, Austria. PARTICIPANTS: 3948 internal and external physicians were consulted. INTERVENTIONS: An online survey consisting of 24 questions was conducted. The survey was distributed to physicians working in the province of Styria, Austria, in 2018 over a period of 6 months. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Attitudes of internal and external physicians in terms of target group, content and health literacy. RESULTS: In total, 1060 physicians participated in the survey. The DS is considered as a communication tool among physicians (97.9%) and the patients are also indicated as addressees (73.5%). Furthermore, there is a high level of agreement that understandable information in the DS leads to fewer questions of the patients (67.9%). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the DS is not only seen as a document for the further treating physician but is also relevant for the patient. Incorporating the patient into their treatment at all levels may possibly strengthen the individual health literacy of the patient and their caring relatives.
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Hoffmann et al. (2019) conducted a cross-sectional in Attitudes towards discharge summary (n=1,060). Online survey on discharge summaries was evaluated on Attitudes of internal and external physicians in terms of target group, content and health literacy. An online survey of 1,060 physicians in Austria found that 97.9% consider the discharge summary a communication tool among physicians, while 73.5% also view patients as addressees.
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