Authors (including presenting author) :
Wong ELY (1), Cheung AWL (1), Qiu H (1), Ma JCH (1), Yeoh EK (1)
Affiliation :
(1) JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Introduction :
Collecting patients’ evaluations of care including patient-reported outcomes and experience is recognised as an essential process for identifying improvement areas in the healthcare system. Such insights can drive substantial enhancement to the quality of healthcare services. Effective discharge communication with patients and caregivers is important for ensuring a smooth patient translation from hospital to community care. Inadequate communication, however, can lead to poor post-discharge health management.
Objectives :
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between positive patient experience with discharge communication and patient enablement.
Methodology :
The analysis was based on the data collected from a territory-wide Hospital Authority Patient Experience Survey. Patient interviews were conducted between 30 Oct 2023 and 22 April 2024 among patients discharged from 26 selected public hospitals. Patient experience was collected using the Hong Kong Inpatient Experience Questionnaire (HKIEQ), which was specifically developed and validated for hospital care in Hong Kong. The questionnaire involved 46 evaluative items covering various care aspects found to be important to patients. Four items regarding the discharge medication information and danger signals after discharge were combined to assess the overall experience of discharge communication in the analysis. In addition to demographic information, competency in self-health management was measured using the Patient Enablement Instrument. Binary logistic regression models were applied to determine the association between the experience of medication and danger signals communication upon discharge and patient enablement among patients with chronic illnesses.
Result & Outcome :
A total of 9,928 responses were collected from the survey and 7,291 patients who reported receiving medication upon discharge were included in the analysis. Patients who did not have any medication were excluded. The mean score for evaluating overall experience regarding discharge communication was 8.2 (SD=2.0). Less than half of the patients positively reported their ability to understand their illness (44%), maintain their health (41%), and feel confident about their health (36%). The findings indicate that patients’ competency was positively associated with better discharge communication (AOR=1.211 [95% CI: 1.180-1.243]; AOR=1.213 [95% CI: 1.181-1.246]; AOR=1.289 [95% CI: 1.252-1.327]). The study highlights the critical role of effective discharge communication in enhancing patient outcomes. Enhancing discharge communication can lead to better patient enablement and overall health management.
