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Maintaining continuity of care: a look at the quality of communication between Ontario emergency departments and community physicians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2015

Andrew P. Stiell ,
Alan J. Forster ,
Ian G. Stiell  and
Carl van Walraven
Andrew P. Stiell
Affiliation:
Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Health Research Institute, Ottawa, Ont.
Alan J. Forster
Affiliation:
Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Health Research Institute, Ottawa, Ont. Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Toronto, Ont.
Ian G. Stiell
Affiliation:
Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Health Research Institute, Ottawa, Ont. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Ottawa, Toronto, Ont.
Carl van Walraven*
Affiliation:
Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Health Research Institute, Ottawa, Ont. Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Toronto, Ont. Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ont.
*
Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital — Civic Campus, F660 – 1053 Carling Ave., Ottawa ON K1Y 4E9; 613 761-4903, fax 613 761-5351, carlv@ohri.ca

Abstract

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Background:

To maintain continuity of care when a patient's care is transferred between physicians, continuity of patient information is required. This survey determined how, and how well, Ontario emergency departments (EDs) communicate patient information to physicians in the community.

Methods:

We surveyed Ontario ED chiefs to determine the most common media and methods used for disseminating information. We measured the perceived quality of their system, which was regressed against the hospital teaching status and community size using generalized logits modelling. Finally, we elicited the components of an ideal communication system for the ED.

Results:

One hundred and forty-three (85.6%) Ontario ED chiefs participated. The ED record of treatment was the most commonly used medium (95%). Postal service was the most common (55%) method of disseminating information. Thirty-three chiefs (23%) perceived the quality of communicating patient information from their ED as unsatisfactory or inadequate. This perception was significantly more prevalent in larger communities (excellent v. unsatisfactory [odds ratio (OR) 44.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 13.9-140] and satisfactory v. unsatisfactory [OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.6-5.1]) and in teaching hospitals (satisfactory v. unsatisfactory [OR 9.7, 95% CI 4.7-20.3]). Seventy-eight percent of responding chiefs felt that patient information should be disseminated using electronic means, either through email or server access.

Conclusions:

To communicate patient information to community physicians, Ontario ED chiefs report that a copy of the ED record of treatment is sent by postal service. More than one-fifth of ED chiefs perceived communication from their department as unsatisfactory or inadequate. Studies that assess the completeness and accuracy of the record of treatment are required as a first step for measuring the quality of patient information communication in the Ontario ED system.

Keywords

continuity of careinter-physician communicationsurvey
Type
ED Administration • L’administration de la MU
Information
Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , May 2005 , pp. 155 - 161
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians 2005

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