Table 2.

Primary Care Clinician Survey Responses Related to Current Discharge Communication Received

Direct Discharge Communicationn = 25* (%)
How often do you receive direct [non-automated] communication from the inpatient team at discharge?
 0 to 25%19 (76%)
 26 to 50%4 (16%)
 51 to 75%1 (4%)
 76 to 100%1 (4%)
When direct contact is received, who do you receive contact from most often?
 I have never received direct communication4 (16%)
 Inpatient attending physician12 (48%)
 Inpatient Case Manager4 (16%)
 Inpatient resident physician2 (8%)
 Inpatient APC1 (4%)
 Other

  • 1.   Addiction medicine team

  • 2.   Pharmacist assisting in transitions of care

2 (8%)
When direct contact is received, what is the most common communication method? (*n = 21)
 In-basket message in Epic20 (95%)
 Phone call1 (5%)
How satisfied are you with communication between inpatient providers and you as primary care provider at time of   discharge?
 Very Dissatisfied2 (8%)
 Dissatisfied6 (24%)
 Neutral14 (56%)
 Satisfied3 (12%)
 Very Satisfied0 (0%)
Automatic Discharge Communication through the Electronic Health Recordn = 25 (%)
When automatic discharge notification is received, how often is the discharge summary attached?
 0 to 25%3 (12%)
 26 to 50%2 (8%)
 51 to 75%5 (20%)
 76 to 100%15 (60%)
How many of your primary care patients have been discharged from the University Hospital in the last year?
 None0
 1 to 50
 6 to 105 (20%)
 11 to 205 (20%)
 21 or more15 (60%)
How often [what percentage of the time] are you getting automatic notifications of your patients’ discharge through   Epic?
 0 to 25%1 (4%)
 26 to 50%3 (12%)
 51 to 75%4 (16%)
 76 to 100%17 (68%)
When you are notified of a patient discharge [automatically] through Epic, how often do you recognize the patient as   a patient you know well and consider to be “your” patient?
 0 to 25%1 (4%)
 26 to 50%3 (12%)
 51 to 75%4 (16%)
 76 to 100%17 (68%)
How helpful do you find [automatic] discharge notifications?
 Very Unhelpful1 (4%)
 Unhelpful4 (17%)
 Neutral3 (12%)
 Helpful10 (42%)
 Very Helpful6 (25%)
What do you do when you receive an automatic discharge notification?(Sample of representative survey responses)

  • “‘Done’ the message so it goes away. I typically get at least 3 other notifications of their stay with more relevant information.” SP 2

  • “I sometimes look at the HPI/ED note to see why, but often I do nothing.” SP 3

  • “Mostly delete unless it's a patient with special needs then I reach out to primary team.” SP 5

  • “If it is a patient with chronic issues requiring complex management, I follow the hospital care daily. Rarely, I send the hospital care team Epic messages regarding the patient’s previous care and medical events. I alert our Care Managers if it appears that the patient will need ongoing care coordination post discharge.” SP 28

  • Note. *Sample size and corresponding percentages differs as noted.

  • Abbreviations: SP, survey participant; APC, advanced practice clinician, inclusive of nurse practitioners and physician assistants; HPI, history of present illness; ED, emergency department.