Discharge Module Enhances Patient Safety, Communication
BWH IS implemented its latest clinical system, a new web-based module
for the completion of inpatient discharge documentation and orders in
November. The application, which was launched hospital-wide (except in
the NICU and ED), allows care team members to work collaboratively in
creating the discharge documents for patients as they transition from
the hospital to their next care setting.
“It is incredibly exciting to see the module in use and for BWH to
lead the way in promoting the highest quality care for our patients,”
said Rob Boxer, MD, physician lead on the project.
“With this new application, we have taken a major step forward
towards ensuring the safety of our patients as they leave the hospital,”
said Omar Hasan, MBBS, medical director, BWH Continuum of Care
Strategies. “The new discharge module goes a long way in meeting the
information needs of sub-acute facilities receiving patients from BWH.”
Enhanced medication reconciliation and structured fields for tests
pending at discharge, follow-up appointments, anticoagulatio, and
medical devices are just a few examples among the many features in the
Discharge Module that were included to promote a safe transition for
patients. The Discharge Module helps clinicians to pass along critical
information to patients and their next set of providers.
“The new Discharge Module virtually guarantees we meet our targets
for high-quality and timely discharge documentation and gives us a
platform that is flexible as our needs and external requirements
change,” said Jeffrey Schnipper, MD, co-chair of the Partners High
Performance Medicine Transition Team.
Although the Discharge Module faced several technical and workflow
challenges during the implementation period, the project team worked
tirelessly to address issues that arose. Nurse and clinician super-users
worked with front-line providers to ease the transition to the new
module and helped to minimize the impact of these early technical
challenges.
While the Discharge Module is a work in progress, on which
improvements and enhancements will continue to occur over the coming
months, the team has been encouraged by the positive feedback from users
like resident Karl Laskowski, MD, who notes, “Overall, it is a vast
improvement over the BICS module.”