Improving Discharge Communication in the Emergency Department Through Information Structuring
Research Project
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01.01.2015
- 31.12.2017
In an emergency department, effective discharge communication-the communication of diagnosis information as well as instructions for the ongoing management of patients' conditions given by an attending physician at the time of discharge-represents a key step in medical care, with the potential to improve patient well-being and satisfaction, adherence to medication, and, ultimately, better health outcomes. Past research suggests that physicians' communication is often not optimally structured and that patients fail to fully recall and understand the information received at discharge. In turn, psychological research suggests that information structuring can be a powerful tool to improve memory recall and understanding. Consequently, information structuring represents a possible tool to improve discharge communication and associated patient outcomes.The cooperation represents an effort to engage in interdisciplinary crosstalk, in particular, it aims to use established insights from psychological theory-the beneficial role of information structuring for memory performance and comprehension-to improve discharge communication and patient care in an emergency department setting.