Transition of Care

What Are We Measuring?

Patient experience is an important part of healthcare quality, and we regularly survey our patients to gain insights into how we can deliver even better experiences throughout our health system. One key question included in our patient satisfaction survey program asks how well a patient understood his or her care when they were discharged from the hospital. This educational piece is critical because when a patient and their family understands their care, it helps ensure their recovery continues at home – and helps prevent readmission to the hospital. This metric specifically looks at how many of our patients said they “Strongly Agree” that they understood their care when they left the hospital. Through our third-party survey partner, Press Ganey, we can then see how we benchmark against other hospitals, as well as find insights for improvement.

How Are We Performing?

At Hendricks, we regularly measure and analyze our performance because it tells us what’s working well and where there are opportunities for improvement. Our ongoing results tracking provides evidence-based recommendations for our team to stay at the forefront of safe care. The graph below reflects data publicly released in January 2023 for a selected period of time. Learn more by visiting Medicare.gov Care Compare.

What Are We Doing to Improve?

• Assist patients in enrolling in MyChart patient portal to bring all of their hospital discharge notes, medication information, treatment instructions and other resources together in an easy resource (that they can choose to share with caregivers and family members)
• Schedule/set-up appointments and other treatment next steps at discharge to make the continuum of care more seamless
• Assign a Transitions of Care team member to every patient for support and follow-up throughout their care journey
• Provide at discharge a printed After Visit Summary with details covering concerns to watch for, when to contact their provider, follow-up appointments already scheduled with their medical team, and any new medications or medication changes.
• Calls are placed to select patient populations including those at higher risk for readmission to the hospital. Staff also call patients who had a same-day procedure to ensure their recovery is going as planned and they do not have any questions after their visit.

Learn More

We encourage patients and family members to use many of the different resources available to compare and choose a hospital or healthcare provider. Examples include Medicare.gov Care Compare and Leapfrog Ratings as well as talking with your doctor.