Home health care referrals following hospital discharge: communication in health services delivery.
Interinstitutional communication in the delivery of health services is fundamental to continuity of patient care. The purpose of this investigation was to describe the information transferred in the formal home care referral of elderly clients by hospitals and to describe selected organizational and medical condition characteristics that may affect referral content. Results indicated that approximately half of the information recommended by the literature was actually transmitted in the referral form. This information was composed primarily of background and medical data with some nursing care and almost no psychosocial data. More data were transferred when standardized written forms were used, when smaller hospitals provided the information, and when the home health agency was affiliated with the hospital.
College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, Rock Island 61201.
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Anderson
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Helms
D000359:Aftercare / Q000458:organization & administration; D000368:Aged; D003142:Communication; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003625:Data Collection; D004282:Documentation / Q000592:standards; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006744:Hospital Bed Capacity, 100 to 299; D006745:Hospital Bed Capacity, 300 to 499; D006777:Hospitals, Proprietary / Q000458:organization & administration; D006788:Hospitals, Voluntary / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D007484:Iowa; D008499:Medical Records / Q000592:standards*; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000592:standards*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012189:Retrospective Studies