According to a study published by Deloitte in 2020, hospital discharge management in the organization is too inefficient. Processes need to be digitized more efficiently and coordinated centrally, which could be achieved with the help of an optimized digital infrastructure. From the patient’s perspective, there are four steps in the hospital discharge process that need to be better coordinated. The patient must give consent for discharge management in the hospital, and only then does the assessment of the situation with needs assessment and analysis of prescription aftercare services begin. The discharge plan prior to actual discharge occurs as the final step, reviewing care needs and the measures required to meet them. Following this, other service providers, who must be precisely defined, take over further care.
However, the complexity of the many players and interfaces is already apparent here. There is also little simplification and acceleration; instead, treating physicians in the hospital are distracted from their actual tasks by too much bureaucracy and expense in discharge management. In many cases, so-called case managers offer support. However, the complexity and the communication process of the interprofessional cooperation of all players such as clinicians, physicians in private practice, patients and relatives as well as other outpatient service providers leads to problems, Deloitte explains in the analysis.
Furthermore, for example, data is transferred far too late to the hospital information system, or HIS, prior to discharge. Delays are also caused by a lack of interfaces in data processing. Deloittte’s summary is that fast and simple information transfer with the security of data transfers leads to greater efficiency in hospital discharge management. The networking of treatment providers and aftercare providers must be more efficient and compliant. However, the individuality of individual patients must not be neglected.
Nowadays, the discharge process is overly generalized, which is also due to the time pressure on specialists Digitalization and interface management are particularly important in order to avoid inefficiency, error liability, generalization as well as uncertainties, but at the same time to ensure standardization of processes, such as accessibility and the ability of interprofessional teams and players to communicate with each other.
Source: www.kma-online.de