Rehospitalizations and emergency room visits within 30 days of hospital discharge (i.e., bounce-backs) are a ;This thesis will begin to address these critical issues by: (1) identifying some of the work processes which promote discharge summary completeness, (2) evaluating the accuracy/completeness of one important component of discharge summary communication (i.e., dysphagia therapies), and (3) determining how the omission of a specific discharge summary component (i.e., medical follow-up) impacts bounce-backs in older stroke and hip fracture patients discharged to sub-acute care. This initial work will serve as a platform for future studies investigating discharge summary impact and will inform the development of practical interventions to optimize discharge summary communication, and thereby potentially decrease bounce-backs. |