Although the majority of surgeries in the United States are performed in the outpatient setting, the study reported that ASCs have not played a major role in projects to evaluate safe practices for patient transitions.
In “Transitioning the Older Adult in the Ambulatory Care Setting,” Joan M. nelson, DNP, RN, APRN-BC, and Jane Carrington, PhD, RN, of the University of Colorado College of Nursing, wrote that individual ASCs should develop protocols for patient transitions.
The authors said evidence-based tools and checklists developed for the acute-care setting can serve as a foundation for the development of these protocols. The authors also recommend the implementation and adoption of an electronic health record across the entire patient care spectrum — but especially during care transitions, when costly errors and miscommunication is more likely.
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