Hospital Discharge Communication ProcessesNCT01873105
The CARS Study: Communicating About Readiness (for Discharge)
A study testing Health Team Educational Intervention in people with Hospital Discharge Communication Processes, run by Marquette University at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The purpose of this study is to improve the experience of discharge of adult medical surgical patients through improved discharge preparation communication between patients and care team members, with subsequent improvement in the post-discharge experience. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Hospital Discharge Communication Processes
- What is being tested?
- Health Team Educational Intervention
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 604 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- Mar 2014to May 2016
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- inpatient care team members from 2 nursing units of an academic medical center: Attending physician, resident, medical students, mid-level providers, staff RNs, and case managers/discharge coordinators
- adult medical-surgical patients admitted the 2 nursing units who are at least 18 years of age, speak English, and discharged directly home
Who cannot join
- patient discharged home with hospice care
- patients not discharged directly home
- decisionally incapacitated patients
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
The purpose of this study is to improve the experience of discharge of adult medical surgical patients through improved discharge preparation communication between patients and care team members, with subsequent improvement in the post-discharge experience. Obtaining multiple perspectives on discharge readiness creates the opportunity for patient and care team to partner in identifying deficiencies in discharge readiness that warrant anticipatory, compensatory, or corrective interventions prior to discharge, with the goal of averting post-discharge problems and utilization. The results will also inform development and translation of tools for assessment of discharge readiness to clinical care environments.
Read the detailed description
Specific Aims are to:
- Describe patterns of communication about discharge and collaboration among members of the health care team
- Conduct psychometric testing of 3 forms of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale (RHDS - MD, RN, Patient)
- Describe relationships between care team communication, patient perceptions of quality of discharge preparation and perceived readiness for discharge, care team (RN and MD) assessments of discharge readiness, and post-discharge outcome ( post-discharge coping difficulty, Emergency Department (ED) use, and 30 day readmission.
- Determine the impact of an intervention with the inpatient care team to improve discharge preparation communication.
H1: Patient perceptions of discharge readiness, post-discharge coping difficulty, ED use and readmission will improve following a care team educational intervention about discharge preparation, compared to pre-intervention baseline measures.
H2: Care team members will report improved frequency and amount of discharge preparation communication following a care team educational intervention about discharge preparation, compared to pre-intervention baseline measures.
H3: RN-MD collaboration will increase following a care team educational intervention about discharge preparation, compared to pre-intervention baseline measures
- Being tested
- Health Team Educational Intervention
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Health Team Educational InterventionOther
AHRQ TeamStepps processes will be used to redesign health team discharge communication processes and an educational intervention for health care team members
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Health team educational intervention | Experimental | Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) TeamSTEPPS approach will be used to redesign health team communication processes regarding preparation for discharge. This redesign will be followed by education for all health team members. Receives: Other: Health Team Educational Intervention |
| Control pre-intervention | No intervention | Usual care control before implementation of the health team communication intervention |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Readmission
Readmission within the 30 days after hospital discharge
Measured: 30 days post discharge
Emergency Department visits
ED visits within the 30 days after hospital discharge
Measured: 30 days post discharge
Secondary outcomes (1)
Post-discharge Coping Difficulty Scale
Coping difficulty after hospital discharge measured using the Post-Discharge Coping Difficulty Scale is collected via telephone followup between 14 and 21 days after hospital discharge
Measured: 14 to 21 days post-hospitalization
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted7 Jun 2013 (estimated)
- Study startMar 2014
- Primary completionMay 2016
- Study completionMay 2016
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Hospital Discharge Communication ProcessesStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Sequential
- Model description
- Before/after implementation of a health team communication intervention. 2 samples.
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 604 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Marquette University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Froedtert Hospital
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Marianne Weiss, Marquette University
- Investigators
- Marianne Weiss, DNSc RN, Principal investigator, Marquette UnoversityKristi Opper, MS RN, Principal investigator, Froedtert Hospital
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT01873105
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- PRO00019092
- Status last verified
- Apr 2019
- First submitted
- 26 Apr 2013
- Last updated
- 18 Apr 2019
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 18 Apr 2019. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- The CARS Study: Communicating About Readiness (for Discharge)
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT01873105
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- PRO00019092
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 604 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Marquette UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Froedtert Hospital
- Study start
- Mar 2014 (actual)
- Primary completion
- May 2016 (actual)
- Study completion
- May 2016 (actual)
- First posted
- 7 Jun 2013 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The purpose of this study is to improve the experience of discharge of adult medical surgical patients through improved discharge preparation communication between patients and care team members, with subsequent improvement in the post-discharge experience. Obtaining multiple perspectives on discharge readiness creates the opportunity for patient and care team to partner in identifying deficiencies in discharge readiness that warrant anticipatory, compensatory, or corrective interventions prior to discharge, with the goal of averting post-discharge problems and utilization. The results will also inform development and translation of tools for assessment of discharge readiness to clinical care environments.
Detailed description
Specific Aims are to:
- Describe patterns of communication about discharge and collaboration among members of the health care team
- Conduct psychometric testing of 3 forms of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale (RHDS - MD, RN, Patient)
- Describe relationships between care team communication, patient perceptions of quality of discharge preparation and perceived readiness for discharge, care team (RN and MD) assessments of discharge readiness, and post-discharge outcome ( post-discharge coping difficulty, Emergency Department (ED) use, and 30 day readmission.
- Determine the impact of an intervention with the inpatient care team to improve discharge preparation communication.
H1: Patient perceptions of discharge readiness, post-discharge coping difficulty, ED use and readmission will improve following a care team educational intervention about discharge preparation, compared to pre-intervention baseline measures.
H2: Care team members will report improved frequency and amount of discharge preparation communication following a care team educational intervention about discharge preparation, compared to pre-intervention baseline measures.
H3: RN-MD collaboration will increase following a care team educational intervention about discharge preparation, compared to pre-intervention baseline measures
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Sequential
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- Before/after implementation of a health team communication intervention. 2 samples.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Health team educational intervention | Experimental | Other: Health Team Educational InterventionAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) TeamSTEPPS approach will be used to redesign health team communication processes regarding preparation for discharge. This redesign will be followed by education for all health team members. |
| Control pre-intervention | No intervention | –Usual care control before implementation of the health team communication intervention |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- inpatient care team members from 2 nursing units of an academic medical center: Attending physician, resident, medical students, mid-level providers, staff RNs, and case managers/discharge coordinators
- adult medical-surgical patients admitted the 2 nursing units who are at least 18 years of age, speak English, and discharged directly home
Key exclusion criteria (3 listed)
- patient discharged home with hospice care
- patients not discharged directly home
- decisionally incapacitated patients
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Health Team Educational InterventionAHRQ TeamStepps processes will be used to redesign health team discharge communication processes and an educational intervention for health care team members | Other | Health team educational intervention |
Primary outcome
Readmission
Time frame: 30 days post discharge
Readmission within the 30 days after hospital discharge
Emergency Department visits
Time frame: 30 days post discharge
ED visits within the 30 days after hospital discharge
1 secondary outcome
Post-discharge Coping Difficulty Scale
Time frame: 14 to 21 days post-hospitalization
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 18 Apr 2019.
Related trials for Hospital Discharge Communication Processes
Recruiting
Ready for Safe Cancer Treatment (RESET): A Comprehensive Perioperative Program for Surgical Oncology
Neoplasms, Frailty
Not yet recruiting
Automatic Feedback Indicator to Enhance the Hospital Discharge Communication Between Acute Care and Primary Care.
Continuity of Care, Patient Safety
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Marianne Weiss, DNSc RN principal investigator
Marquette Unoversity
Kristi Opper, MS RN principal investigator
Froedtert Hospital
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Health Team Educational Intervention in people with Hospital Discharge Communication Processes, run by Marquette University at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 18 Apr 2019. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Readmission (time frame: 30 days post discharge). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 18 Apr 2019.