Good communication between hospitalists and primary care physicians at the time of discharge is critical to patient safety and to the reduction of risk. Historically, this communication has been “one-way” in the form of a discharge summary. Studies have shown that "[F]ollowing hospital discharges nearly half (49 percent) of hospitalized patients experience at least one medical error in medication continuity, diagnostic workup, or test follow-up."

The CMS Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) was effective for Medicare discharges beginning on October 1, 2012 and reduces payments to IPPS hospitals with excess readmissions.

Good communication between hospitalists and primary care physicians at the time of discharge is critical to patient safety and to the reduction of risk. Historically, this communication has been “one-way” in the form of a discharge summary. 

Illene MacDonald of FierceHealthcare interviewed CAP's Senior Risk Management & Patient Safety Specialist Kim Danebrock, RN, JD for this article.

Poor communication between the physician and the patient is a root cause leading to filing a medical liability lawsuit. Recently, Thomas Fleeter, MD, and Robert Slater, MD, of the AAOS Medical Liability Committee, spoke with Lee McMullin, CPHRM, about how to talk to patients after an adverse event. Mr. McMullin is senior risk management and patient safety specialist for Cooperative of American Physicians, a physician-owned and governed, California-based medical malpractice liability cooperative that provides medical professional liability protection and risk management services.