title: Interdisciplinary Rounds and Structured Communication Reduce Re-Admissions and Improve Some Patient Outcomes.
abstract: Hospital communication is more than access to information. Among staff, it is about achieving situation awareness-an understanding of a patient's current condition and likely trajectory. In the multidisciplinary context of providing care, structure, consistency, and repeatability of communication will enable a shared understanding of the patient and plan, leading to improved patient satisfaction and outcomes. This was tested using the Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) protocol, a re-admissions risk assessment and daily interdisciplinary rounds (IDR) in the medical/surgical units of a hospital. The impact of these interventions on patient satisfaction, Foley catheter removal compliance, and patient re-admission rates was assessed. Over the 3 year period, Foley compliance improved from 78% to 94%, and re-admissions decreased from 14.5% to 2.1%, both significant. Patient satisfaction trended positively, but was not significant. These results support the value of SBAR and IDR, and are advocated to improve situation awareness and maintain focus on key patient data.
authors.affiliation: Baptist Healthcare, Desoto, MS, USA.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Townsend-Gervis
authors.affiliation: Healthcare Practice Transformation, Grapevine, TX, USA ptcornell@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cornell
authors.affiliation: Mississippi State University, Jackson, USA.
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Vardaman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D003142:Communication; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010348:Patient Care Team; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D056164:Teaching Rounds / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D014546:Urinary Catheterization / Q000451:nursing
keywords: Foley catheter; HCAHPS; SBAR; interdisciplinary rounds; re-admissions