title: The development and clinical evaluation of a 'traffic-light' design dermatology outpatient discharge information checklist.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although multiple factors influence discharge decisions, there is no structured guidance to assist clinicians in making informed decisions. A discharge information checklist might improve the appropriateness of dermatology clinicians' discharge decisions.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To generate consensus among dermatologists on the content of an outpatient discharge checklist, to create one and to seek clinicians' opinions on its usefulness.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen consultant dermatologists from five National Health Service trusts completed a 72-item Delphi questionnaire. A five-point Likert scale was used to rate each item for importance in contributing to a high-quality discharge decision. Eighteen clinicians completed a questionnaire evaluating checklist use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Consensus was determined when ≥ 75% of consultants rated an item 'very important' or 'important'. There was strong inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0·958) and fair inter-rater agreement (Fleiss kappa = 0·269). There were 26 consensus-agreed items, condensed to 13 that formed the 'traffic-light' checklist. These are disease-related issues (diagnostic certainty, disease severity, treatment appropriateness, patient manageable in primary care, patient's benefit from follow-up), patient empowerment issues (understanding diagnosis and treatment outcome, having a clear plan, treatment side-effects, ability to self-manage) and addressing concerns (patient concerns, easy reaccess to secondary care, whether patient and clinician are happy with the decision). Twelve clinicians (67%) found the checklist useful, 11 (61%) wanted to use it in future, 10 (56%) thought it was useful for training and three (17%) said it helped their thinking. Clinicians suggested its use for auditing and for training clinicians and administrators.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Items were identified to create an outpatient discharge information checklist, which demonstrated high acceptability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Wound Healing, Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, U.K. ainitaharun@gmail.com.|Department of Dermatology, University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia. ainitaharun@gmail.com.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Harun
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Wound Healing, Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, U.K.
authors.forename: A Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Finlay
authors.affiliation: School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, AL10 9AB, U.K.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salek
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Wound Healing, Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, U.K.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Piguet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D057189:Checklist / Q000592:standards*; D000066491:Clinical Decision-Making; D032921:Consensus; D003253:Consultants; D000072085:Dermatologists / Q000523:psychology; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires