Only 55% of medical residents consistently complete discharge summaries for nursing facility patients, study finds

Only 55 percent of medical school residents reported consistently completing discharge summaries for hospitalized patients being transferred to skilled nursing facilities, a study published in the November issue of Journal of the American Medical Directors Association found.

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Researchers electronically surveyed 482 medical residents across three university-based programs in internal medicine and medicine-pediatrics across the U.S., of which 238 responded.

Key findings: 

  • Only 31 percent of residents knew how often patients received skilled therapies at skilled nursing facilities.
  • Only 23 percent knew how frequently nursing services are provided. 
  • While 79 percent of residents identified discharge summaries as the main way they communicated care instructions to facilities, only 55 percent reported always completing it prior to discharge. 
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