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Development of the Uncertainty Communication Checklist: A Patient-Centered Approach to Patient Discharge From the Emergency Department.

ABSTRACT: Clear communication with patients upon emergency department (ED) discharge is important for patient safety during the transition to outpatient care. Over one-third of patients are discharged from the ED with diagnostic uncertainty, yet there is no established approach for effective discharge communication in this scenario. From 2017 to 2019, the authors developed the Uncertainty Communication Checklist for use in simulation-based training and assessment of emergency physician communication skills when discharging patients with diagnostic uncertainty. This development process followed the established 12-step Checklist Development Checklist framework and integrated patient feedback into 6 of the 12 steps. Patient input was included as it has potential to improve patient-centeredness of checklists related to assessment of clinical performance. Focus group patient participants from 2 clinical sites were included: Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, and Northwestern University Hospital, Chicago, Illinois.The authors developed a preliminary instrument based on existing checklists, clinical experience, literature review, and input from an expert panel comprising health care professionals and patient advocates. They then refined the instrument based on feedback from 2 waves of patient focus groups, resulting in a final 21-item checklist. The checklist items assess if uncertainty was addressed in each step of the discharge communication, including the following major categories: introduction, test results/ED summary, no/uncertain diagnosis, next steps/follow-up, home care, reasons to return, and general communication skills. Patient input influenced both what items were included and the wording of items in the final checklist. This patient-centered, systematic approach to checklist development is built upon the rigor of the Checklist Development Checklist and provides an illustration of how to integrate patient feedback into the design of assessment tools when appropriate.

SUBMITTER: Rising KL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7302334 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Development of the Uncertainty Communication Checklist: A Patient-Centered Approach to Patient Discharge From the Emergency Department.

Rising Kristin L KL Powell Rhea E RE Cameron Kenzie A KA Salzman David H DH Papanagnou Dimitrios D Doty Amanda M B AMB Latimer Lori L Piserchia Katherine K McGaghie William C WC McCarthy Danielle M DM

Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 20200701 7

Clear communication with patients upon emergency department (ED) discharge is important for patient safety during the transition to outpatient care. Over one-third of patients are discharged from the ED with diagnostic uncertainty, yet there is no established approach for effective discharge communication in this scenario. From 2017 to 2019, the authors developed the Uncertainty Communication Checklist for use in simulation-based training and assessment of emergency physician communication skill ...[more]

PMID: 32101919

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Project description:ObjectivesEmergency department thoracotomy (EDT) is a rare and challenging procedure. Emergency medicine (EM) residents have limited opportunities to perform the procedure in clinical or educational settings. Standardized, reliable, validated checklists do not exist to evaluate procedural competency. The objectives of this project were twofold: 1) to develop a checklist containing the critical actions for performing an EDT that can be used for future procedural skills training and 2) to evaluate the reliability and validity of the checklist for performing EDT.MethodsAfter a literature review, a preliminary 22-item checklist was developed and disseminated to experts in EM and trauma surgery. A modified Delphi method was used to revise the checklist. To assess usability of the checklist, EM and trauma surgery faculty and residents were evaluated performing an EDT while inter-rater reliability was calculated with Cohen's kappa. A Student's t-test was used to compare the performance of participants who had or had not performed a thoracotomy in clinical practice. Item-total correlation was calculated for each checklist item to determine discriminatory ability.ResultsA final 22-item checklist was developed for EDT. The overall inter-rater reliability was strong (κ = 0.84) with individual item agreement ranging from moderate to strong (κ = 0.61 to 1.00). Experts (attending physicians and senior residents) performed well on the checklist, achieving an average score of 80% on the checklist. Participants who had performed EDT in clinical practice performed significantly better than those that had not, achieving an average of 80.7% items completed versus 52.3% (p < 0.05). Seventeen of 22 items had an item-total correlation greater than 0.2.ConclusionsA final 22-item consensus-based checklist was developed for the EDT. Overall inter-rater reliability was strong. This checklist can be used in future studies to serve as a foundation for curriculum development around this important procedure.

Project description:IntroductionFew studies have examined the impact of emergency department (ED) social interventions on patient outcomes and revisits, especially in underserved populations. Our objective in this study was to characterize a volunteer initiative that provided community medical and social resources at ED discharge and its effect on ED revisit rates and adherence to follow-up appointments at a large, county hospital ED.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional analysis of ED patients who received medical and social resources and an educational intervention at discharge between September 2017-June 2018. Demographic information, the number of ED return visits, and outpatient follow-up appointment adherence within 30 and 90 days of ED discharge were obtained from electronic health records. We obtained data regarding patient utilization of resources via telephone follow-up communication. We used logistic regression analyses to evaluate associations between patient characteristics, reported resource utilization, and revisit outcomes.ResultsMost patients (55.3% of 494 participants) identified as Latino/Hispanic, and 49.4% received healthcare assistance through a local governmental program. A majority of patients (83.6%) received at least one medical or social resource, with most requesting more than one. Patients provided with a medical or social resource were associated with a higher 90-day follow-up appointment adherence (odds ratio [OR] 2.56; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-6.25, and OR 4.75; 95% CI 1.49-15.20], respectively), and the provision of both resources was associated with lower odds of ED revisit within 30 days (OR 0.50; 95% CI 0.27-0.95). Males and those enrolled in the healthcare assistance program had higher odds of ED revisits, while Hispanic/Latino and Spanish-speaking patients had lower odds of revisits.ConclusionAn ED discharge intervention providing medical and social resources may be associated with improved follow-up adherence and reduced ED revisit rates in underserved populations.

Project description:Background/AimsPatient-centered communication (PCC) is a critical element of patient-centered care, which the Institute of Medicine (2001) promulgates as essential to improving healthcare delivery. The National Cancer Institute?s Strategic Plan for Leading the Nation (2008) calls for assessing the delivery of PCC in cancer care. However, no comprehensive measure of PCC exists, and stakeholders have different conceptualizations and assumptions about how to measure it. The purpose of our study was to develop a set of self-administered patient survey items for comprehensive PCC assessment.MethodsOur approach was grounded in the PCC conceptual framework, as presented in the NCI monograph, Patient-Centered Communication in Cancer Care (2007), which defines six functions of PCC:First, we developed a comprehensive inventory of measurement domains and subdomains, aligned with the PCC functions, by reviewing relevant literature, consulting experts, and conducting a small qualitative study involving patient interviews. Next, we inventoried over 100 survey and other measurement instruments, identifying over 1,300 possible items. We evaluated items using a systematic question appraisal system, adapted existing measures as appropriate, and developed new questions to fill identified gaps. Finally, we tested more than 200 survey questions with cancer patients (n=46) using cognitive interviews.ResultsOverall, the findings from the cognitive interviews suggest that the survey questions function well. Patients were generally able to understand the questions and apply them to their own experiences. Many participants reported that the questions reflected important aspects of their interaction with providers.ConclusionsThe draft PCC survey items can now be used for population surveillance, quality assessment, and intervention research in the context of cancer care. Although the survey items focus on PCC with respect to cancer care, many are relevant to all patients as patient-centered care is a goal for health care generally. We discuss challenges of PCC assessment, including measuring communication experiences across different care settings, types of clinicians, and stages in the cancer care continuum. Measuring PCC longitudinally over the course of care and balancing parsimony and comprehensiveness are important considerations.

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Development of the Uncertainty Communication Checklist: A Patient-Centered Approach to Patient Discharge From the Emergency Department.

Publications

Development of the Uncertainty Communication Checklist: A Patient-Centered Approach to Patient Discharge From the Emergency Department.

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