The Impact of Incomplete Nursing Home Transfer Documentation on Emergency Department Care.

The study included nursing home residents transferred to 3 emergency departments in one state and one health system, so the results may not apply to other places. It reviewed electronic records only. It did not know whether nursing home and ED staff spoke by phone to fill gaps, or whether paper forms sent with the patient were not uploaded. It did not judge whether each admission was necessary or preventable. The study was observational. The link between more completed items and higher admission odds cannot show that better documentation caused admission. The association could be explained by unmeasured factors, including patient severity not captured by the Charlson score. Only the first ED visit for each patient was included.

The supplied publication types list NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support. The supplied text does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration.

Do not conclude that better transfer paperwork reduces hospital admissions. Each additional completed core item was associated with 9% greater odds of admission in the adjusted model, and this is an association, not proof of cause.