SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Evaluating the Quality and Equity of Patient Hospital Discharge Instructions

Pdf Summary

This study examined the quality and equity of hospital discharge instructions, with a focus on patients who do not speak English. The authors note that patients often overestimate how well they understand their care after discharge, and that clear discharge instructions are an evidence-based way to improve comprehension and home management.<br /><br />The researchers assessed discharge instructions in two ways: whether they were language-concordant (written in the patient’s preferred language) and their overall quality using the Quality of Discharge Instructions (QDI) tool. The QDI evaluates six domains: primary diagnosis, self-care, return precautions, medication changes, reason for medication changes, and follow-up recommendations, with scores from 1 to 4 in each domain.<br /><br />Key findings:<br />- Only 8% of non-English-speaking patients received written discharge instructions in their preferred language.<br />- Overall QDI scores were similar between English-speaking and non-English-speaking patients.<br />- Discharge instructions for diagnoses with higher self-management complexity had higher quality overall.<br />- Some individual QDI domains differed by group, but the main inequity was in language concordance rather than overall instruction quality.<br /><br />The study suggests that while discharge instruction quality may be comparable across language groups, access to instructions in a patient’s preferred language is very limited for non-English-speaking patients. The authors recommend replicating this work across multiple health systems with a larger sample to better understand and address these disparities.

Asset Subtitle

Joo H. Lee

Meta Tag

Author List Brian Jack, Joo H. Lee, Katherine McDaniel, Kirsten Austad, Lindsay Li-Garrison, Rebecca Wornhoff, Victoria Olivia Rapoport

Category Research

Concept QDI Tool

Concept Discharge Instruction

Concept Language Concordance

Concept QDI Domain

Concept Non-English-Speaking Patient

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Boston Medical Center

Presenting Author Joo H. Lee

Track Transitions of Care

Keywords

hospital discharge instructions

language concordance

non-English-speaking patients

quality of discharge instructions

QDI tool

health equity

patient comprehension

self-care instructions

medication changes

follow-up recommendations

QDI Tool

Discharge Instruction

Language Concordance

QDI Domain

Non-English-Speaking Patient