Abstract
Background: Transitional care interventions have been associated with reduced 30-day patient readmission, better quality of health care, and lower emergency department visits and health care costs.
Local Problem: Transition Services at a major quaternary care center was underutilized by patients who were referred to the program.
Methods: A pre-/postimplementation evaluation design was used to evaluate a quality improvement intervention.
Intervention: A face-to-face meeting between eligible patients and a Transition Services provider prior to patients being discharged from the hospital was evaluated as a process improvement intervention. The primary outcome was initial appointment attendance at the Transition Services clinic following hospital discharge.
Results: There was no statistically significant difference (P = .59) in patients' initial appointment attendance at Transition Services between the preintervention (48.1%) and intervention phases (54.8%).
Conclusion: Provider engagement during hospitalization did not increase initial appointment attendance at Transition Services. Other strategies to improve Transition Services attendance rates are needed.