Development of a tool for assessing the performance of long-term care systems in relation to care transition: Transitional Care Assessment Tool in Long-Term Care (TCAT-LTC)

BACKGROUND: Improving the quality and safety of care transitions is a priority in many countries. Carrying out performance measurements play a significant role in improving quality of decisions undertaken by different actors involved in reforms. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to present the development of an evaluation tool for assessing the performance of long-term care systems in relation to care transition, namely the Transitional Care Assessment Tool in Long-Term Care (TCAT-LTC). This study is performed as part of a larger European TRANS-SENIOR project. METHODS: The development of the TCAT-LTC involved three steps. First, we developed a conceptual model based on Donabedian's quality framework and literature review. Second, we carried out a thorough process of item pool generation using deductive (systematic literature review) and deductive-inductive methods (in-depth interviews) with experts in the field of long-term care. Third, we conducted preliminary validation of the tool by asking experts in research and practice to provide an opinion on a tool and to assess content validity. Future fourth step will involve a tool's pilot with country experts from Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. RESULTS: By applying methodological triangulation, we developed the TCAT-LTC, which consists of 2 themes, 12 categories and 63 items. Themes include organizational and financial aspects. Organizational aspects include categories such as communication, transfer of information, availability and coordination of resources, training and education of staff, education/support of the patient/informal caregiver, involvement of the patient/informal caregiver, telemedicine and e-Health, and social care. Financial aspects include categories such as primary care, hospital, and long-term care. We also present the instructions on the application of the TCAT-LTC. CONCLUSIONS: In this paper, we presented the development of the TCAT-LTC evaluation tool for assessing the performance of long-term care systems in relation to care transition. The TCAT-LTC is the first tool to assess the performance of long-term care systems in relation to care transition. Assessments can be carried out at the national and international level and enable to monitor, evaluate, and compare performance of the long-term care systems in relation to care transition within and across countries.