Interactive Digital Health Tools to Improve Patient Safety in Acute Care

Study Summary

Study 1: The goal of this study is to implement and evaluate an interactive patient-centered discharge toolkit (PDTK) to engage patients and care partners in discharge preparation and communication with providers after discharge. The aims of this study are to: 1. To refine and implement an interactive PDTK on a general medicine unit that patient and caregivers can use to prepare for discharge and communicate with key providers during the transition home. 2. To evaluate the impact of the PDTK on patient activation (primary outcome). Patient reported self-efficacy after discharge; post-discharge healthcare resource utilization; and perception of patient-provider communication will be measured as secondary outcomes. 3. To identify barriers and facilitators of implementation, adoption, and use of the PDTK by patients, caregivers, and providers using qualitative and quantitative methods. Study 2: The goal of this study is to expand the use of previously developed patient safety dashboards and patient-centered discharge checklists to three general medicine units in an affiliated community hospital. The safety dashboard and interactive pre-discharge checklist are cognitive aids for clinicians and patients, respectively, that serve to facilitate early detection of patients at risk for preventable harm, including suboptimal discharge preparation. The aims of this study are to: 1. Enhance the safety dashboard and interactive pre-discharge checklist to include "smart" notifications for hospital-based clinicians when patients are at high risk for adverse events or have identified specific concerns related to discharge based on their checklist responses. 2. Expand intervention to general medical units at our community hospital-affiliate, BWFH. 3. Evaluate impact on post-discharge AEs for patients discharged from BWFH who are at risk for preventable harm and hospital readmission.

Primary Outcome

The short version of the Patient Activation Measure (PAM®) or Caregiver Activation Measure (CAM®) tool will be administered to all enrolled patients or enrolled patient's designated caregivers at discharge.

Interventions

• BEHAVIORAL Interactive Digital Health Tools