The efficacy of computer-enabled discharge communication interventions: a systematic review

Abstract

Computer-enabled discharge communications appear beneficial with respect to a number of important secondary outcomes. Primary outcomes of mortality and readmission are less commonly reported in this literature and require further study.

Optimizing the quality of hospital discharge summaries – a systematic review and practical tools

“…The reviews of Kripalani et al and Wilson et al found deficits in various aspects of DS, for example, timeliness and content [2,9]. Computer-assisted writing and DS transmission seem to be beneficial, according to a review of Motamedi et al [41]. In clinical practice and postgraduate training, however, these reviews are typically of limited value because they do not contain practical recommendations on how to improve the content of DS.…”

“…Dictating and typing: Whenever the work conditions permit, DS should be dictated rather than typed by the physician because this process is significantly faster and more efficient [41,55]. The overall quality of a dictated letter tends to be better.…”

Incidence of speech recognition errors in the emergency department

“…Errors in medical documentation are a critical problem that can adversely impact quality of care and patient safety (11)(12)(13)(14)(15). We found nearly 71% of notes contained errors with an average of 1.3 errors per note.…”

Practice Indicators of Suboptimal Care and Avoidable Adverse Events

“…The extensive health informatics infrastructure currently being developed will allow for the more accurate and timely detection of medical errors and the risk factors for such events across the health care continuum. 43 Overall, about three-fifths of the PRINDs that we identified in this study were assessed on the 2008 and 2009 administrations of the MCC QE. Given the key role that licensure exams play in testing PRINDs related to causing and preventing SOCR and avoidable AEs, one could argue that such examinations need to test more PRINDs to better protect the public against suboptimal medical care.…”