Original Research Article
Role of Discharge Summary in Delayed Discharge Process
Roopjot Kochar
Ayurvedic Physician and Nutritionist, 78/13 Anant Nagar, Khanna-141401
ABSTRACT
Delays in the discharge of hospital patients cause a backlog for new admissions from the Emergency Departments, outpatient clinics, and transfers from the Intensive Care Units. A variety of initiatives have been reported on previously which aim to tackle this problem with variable success. While hospital administrators encourage the discharge of patients in the morning to expedite flow through the hospital, often discharges are clustered in the afternoon creating a mismatch between demand and availability of beds in the morning. This mismatch can cause significant overcrowding in the Emergency Department and will affect transfers from Intensive Care Units and elective admissions. The present study has been conducted on 270 patients admitted at a multispecialty hospital of Ludhiana to understand one of major cause of delay in discharge process is delayed preparation of discharge summaries. Turnaround time was recorded from discharge intimation to final summary signed by concerned doctor in order to calculate and study the cause of delay. The present study findings show that majority are taking 3-5 hrs time between discharge intimation and final summary indicating delayed discharge process.
Key words: Discharge Process, Discharge Intimation, Delay in Discharge, Final Summary, Turnaround Time