Treat and Release is a tool is a transfer form that can be used by skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) or long-term care homes (LTCHs) and emergency departments (EDs) to improve communication during patient transitions of care. View the Treat & Release toolkit for all the related resources. Here we discuss some important considerations as you think about ways to customize the tool depending on the needs of your ED, SNF, or LTCH.
What do physicians want in a transfer form?
An article by Parashar et al. surveyed emergency physicians to learn what they wanted most in a transfer form. Their answers:
- Reason for transfer
- Past medical history, including medications
- Cognitive and functional status
- Advanced directives
- Emergency contact
Some sites may want to modify the form to give higher priority to those key components. For example in settings where online access to medication record is not easy, it would be helpful to ensure the patient’s Medication Administration Record is transferred with this form.
Discrepancy between information provided and information required by emergency physicians for long-term care patients
July 17, 2017
A study to identify information included in long-term care (LTC) transfer documentation and to compare it to the information required by local emergency department (ED) physicians to provide optimal care and make decisions for LTC patients.
Implementing the Transfer Form
When implementing the Transfer Form, it will be helpful to arrange direct communication between the ED and the SNFs or LTCHs from which it receives patients. If there is a geriatric team in the ED, for example, the nurse lead could choose to meet with the director of care at the 3-5 main LTCHs in their catchment areas for brief “doughnut rounds” just to socialize and smooth the implementation of the standardized form. Or the LTCH director of care could contact the ED lead to introduce the form and demonstrate how it could be helpful to both parties. A direct line of communication between clinicians will almost certainly improve uptake and successful use by clarifying what is possible at each end of the transfer.