title: Two useful tools: to improve patient engagement and transition from the hospital.
abstract: We use an Internet-based health assessment and feedback system to examine the range of needs and diverse experiences of 520 hospitalized adults in transition and the factors most strongly associated with their self-reported health confidence. Our results strongly suggest that patient engagement prior to admission and the quality of care coordination and communication during hospitalization can greatly enhance successful transition from the hospital back to the community. Hospitals are complex institutions. This report illustrates how the Internet or a straightforward graphic can make the complexity less overwhelming to patients and efficiently increase their health confidence for transitions.
authors.affiliation: Planetree (Drs Lepore and Harrison) and Griffin Hospital (Drs Wild and Woddor), Derby, Connecticut; Department Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (Dr Lepore); Central Connecticut Senior Health Services, Southington, Connecticut (Ms Gil); Case Management Society of America and National Transitions of Care Coalition, Little Rock, Arkansas (Ms Lattimer); and The Dartmouth Institute, Lebanon, New Hampshire (Dr Wasson).
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lepore
authors.forename: Dorothea
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wild
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gil
authors.forename: Cheri
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lattimer
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: Navitha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Woddor
authors.forename: John H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Wasson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010358:Patient Participation; D011787:Quality of Health Care