Patient experiences of transitioning from hospital to home: An ethnographic quality improvement project

BACKGROUND: Little is known about patient perspectives of the transition from hospital to home. OBJECTIVE: To develop a richly detailed, patient-centered view of patient and caregiver needs in the hospital-to-home transition. DESIGN: An ethnographic approach including participant observation and in-depth, semi-structured video recorded interviews. SETTING: Kaiser Permanente's Southern California, Colorado, and Hawaii regions. PATIENTS: Twenty-four adult inpatients hospitalized for a range of acute and chronic conditions and characterized by variety in diagnoses, illness severity, planned or unplanned hospitalization, age, and ability to self manage. RESULTS: During the hospital-to-home transition, patients and caregivers expressed or demonstrated experiences in 6 domains: 1) translating knowledge into safe, health-promoting actions at home; 2) inclusion of caregivers at every step of the transition process; 3) having readily available problem-solving resources; 4) feeling connected to and trusting providers; 5) transitioning from illness-defined experience to normal life; and 6) anticipating needs after discharge and making arrangements to meet them. The work of transitioning occurs for patients and caregivers in the hours and days after they return home and is fraught with challenges. CONCLUSIONS: Reducing readmissions will remain challenging without a broadened understanding of the types of support and coaching patients need after discharge. We are piloting strategies such as risk stratification and tailoring of care, a specialized phone number for recently discharged patients, standardized same-day discharge summaries to primary care providers, medication reconciliation, follow-up phone calls, and scheduling appointments before discharge.