Nursing Home to Emergency Care Transition Form Has Limited Uptake But Improves Documentation.
Peter T Serina, Audrey Stavrand, Margaret L Lind and 3 others
PMID 38843872WHAT IT FOUND
Use of a standardized nursing home to emergency department transfer form was linked to 2.55 more of 15 key items documented, but only 28.6% of transfers used it and it was not linked to fewer hospital admissions.
Key findings
01Only 28.6% of post-implementation nursing home to emergency department transfers used the standardized form.
02When the standardized form was used, documentation had a median 14 of 15 key elements, compared with a median 12 of 15 without it.
03Use of the standardized form was associated with 2.55 more key data elements documented but not with a lower chance of admission.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used data from one health system in one state and had no control group, so changes over time or other local factors could explain the results. Only 28.6% of post-implementation transfers used the standardized form, so the findings may not reflect how the form works when used routinely. The paper says details of participant identification, sample size calculations and data abstraction are in a supplementary file that is not available here. Verbal handoffs and pandemic effects on nursing home staffing were not measured and could have affected documentation or admissions. No training or electronic health record assistance was provided, and there was no penalty or incentive, so the implementation context may not match other settings.
Declared interests
Funding is listed as NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support. The supplied text does not state author conflicts or whether funders designed the study.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the standardized form improves patient outcomes or reduces admissions. It improved documentation, but only 28.6% of transfers used it and it was not linked to a lower chance of admission.