Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2014 Nov 11;9(11):e112230.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112230. eCollection 2014.

Do post discharge phone calls improve care transitions? A cluster-randomized trial

Christine Soong  1 , Bochra Kurabi  2 , David Wells  3 , Lesley Caines  3 , Matthew W Morgan  1 , Rebecca Ramsden  3 , Chaim M Bell  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Do post discharge phone calls improve care transitions? A cluster-randomized trial

Christine Soong et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Importance: The transition from hospital to home can expose patients to adverse events during the post discharge period. Post discharge care including phone calls may provide support for patients returning home but the impact on care transitions is unknown.

Objective: To examine the effect of a 72-hour post discharge phone call on the patient's transition of care experience.

Design: Cluster-randomized control trial.

Setting: Urban, academic medical center.

Participants: General medical patients age 18 and older discharged home after hospitalization.

Main outcomes and measures: Primary outcome measure was the Care Transition Measure (CTM-3) score, a validated measure of the quality of care transitions. Secondary measures included self-reported adherence to medication and follow up plans, and 30-day composite of emergency department (ED) visits and hospital readmission.

Results: 328 patients were included in the study over an 6-month period. 114 (69%) received a post discharge phone call, and 214 of all patients in the study completed the follow outcome survey (65% response rate). A small difference in CTM-3 scores was observed between the intervention and control groups (1.87 points, 95% CI 0.47-3.27, p = 0.01). Self-reported adherence to treatment plans, ED visits, and emergency readmission rates were similar between the two groups (odds ratio 0.57, 95% CI 0.13-2.45, 1.20, 95% CI 0.61-2.37, and 1.18, 95% CI 0.53-2.61, respectively).

Conclusions and relevance: A single post discharge phone call had a small impact on the quality of care transitions and no effect on hospital utilization. Higher intensity post discharge support may be required to improve the patient experience upon returning home.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01580774.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Patient enrolment and outcomes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Forster AJ, Clark HD, Menard A, Dupuis N, Chernish R, et al. (2004) Adverse events among medical patients after discharge from hospital. CMAJ 170(3): 345–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Roy CL, Poon EG, Karson AS, Ladak-Merchant Z, Johnson RE, et al. (2005) Patient safety concerns arising from test results that return after hospital discharge. Ann Intern Med 143(2): 121–8. - PubMed
    1. van Walraven C, Mamdani M, Fang J, Austin PC (2004) Continuity of care and patient outcomes after hospital discharge. J Gen Intern Med 19(6): 624–31. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Poon EG, Gandhi TK, Sequist TD, Murff HJ, Karson AS, et al. (2004) “I wish I had seen this test result earlier!”: Dissatisfaction with test result management systems in primary care. Arch Intern Med 164(20): 2223–8. - PubMed
    1. Callen J, Georgiou A, Li J, Westbrook JI (2011) The safety implications of missed test results for hospitalised patients: a systematic review. BMJ Qual & Saf 20(2): 194–9. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data