Communication Between the Primary Care Physician and the Hospitalist at the Time of Patient Admission

Objective:�Toassesstheresponseofprimarycare� physicians�(PCPs)�toafaxedrequestforpatientinfor- mationfromtheadmittinghospitalistatthetimeofa� patient'shospitaladmission. •� Methods:� Onthedayofadmission,� theattending� hospitalistfaxedaformtothePCPrequesting� 7� itemsofstandardmedicalrecordinformationthat� areimportantforoptimalpatientcare.�Receiptwas� confirmedbytelephonefollow-up.�Thetotalnumber� ofresponsesandtimingofresponseswererecorded. •� Results:�Ofthe�77�faxesthatweresent,�41�(53%),� werecompleted.� 82%� ofresponseswerereceived� withinthefirst�24�hours.�Five�(15%)�oftheresponses� were�100%�complete.�Medicationlistwasthemost� frequentlycompleteditemandcodestatuswasthe� leastfrequentlycompleted.�TwoPCPsmadephone� contact,�noPCPusedemailcontact.

[1]  Mark V. Williams,et al.  Transitions of Care Consensus policy statement: American College of Physicians, Society of General Internal Medicine, Society of Hospital Medicine, American Geriatrics Society, American College Of Emergency Physicians, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. , 2009, Journal of hospital medicine.

[2]  D. Baker,et al.  Deficits in communication and information transfer between hospital-based and primary care physicians: implications for patient safety and continuity of care. , 2007, JAMA.

[3]  J. Goodwin,et al.  Continuity of outpatient and inpatient care by primary care physicians for hospitalized older adults. , 2009, JAMA.

[4]  D. Baker,et al.  Results of the Medications At Transitions and Clinical Handoffs (MATCH) Study: An Analysis of Medication Reconciliation Errors and Risk Factors at Hospital Admission , 2010, Journal of General Internal Medicine.

[5]  Mark V. Williams,et al.  Transitions of Care Consensus Policy Statement American College of Physicians-Society of General Internal Medicine-Society of Hospital Medicine-American Geriatrics Society-American College of Emergency Physicians-Society of Academic Emergency Medicine , 2009, Journal of General Internal Medicine.

[6]  D. Bates,et al.  The Incidence and Severity of Adverse Events Affecting Patients after Discharge from the Hospital , 2003, Annals of Internal Medicine.

[7]  R. Wachter,et al.  Primary care physician attitudes regarding communication with hospitalists. , 2002, Disease-a-month : DM.

[8]  Christopher L. Roy,et al.  Patient Safety Concerns Arising from Test Results That Return after Hospital Discharge , 2005, Annals of Internal Medicine.

[9]  J. Drazen,et al.  The growth of hospitalists and the changing face of primary care. , 2009, The New England journal of medicine.

[10]  K. Shojania,et al.  National Patient Safety Goals. , 2006, Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons.

[11]  Tosha B. Wetterneck,et al.  Factors associated with discussion of care plans and code status at the time of hospital admission: results from the Multicenter Hospitalist Study. , 2008, Journal of hospital medicine.

[12]  Gulshan Sharma,et al.  Growth in the care of older patients by hospitalists in the United States. , 2009, The New England journal of medicine.

[13]  Mark V. Williams,et al.  Rehospitalizations among patients in the Medicare fee-for-service program. , 2009, The New England journal of medicine.

[14]  T. Bodenheimer.  Primary care--will it survive? , 2006, The New England journal of medicine.

[15]  Stephen A. Martin,et al.  A Reengineered Hospital Discharge Program to Decrease Rehospitalization , 2009, Annals of Internal Medicine.