A Systematic Review of Interventions to Follow-Up Test Results Pending at Discharge.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Patients are frequently discharged from the hospital before all test results have been finalized. Thirty to 40% of tests pending at discharge (TPADs) return potentially actionable results that could necessitate change in the patients' management, often unbeknownst to their physicians. Delayed follow-up of TPADs can lead to patient harm. We sought to synthesize the existing literature on interventions intended to improve the management of TPADs, including interventions designed to enhance documentation of TPADs, increase physician awareness when TPAD results finalize post-discharge, decrease adverse events related to missed TPADs, and increase physician satisfaction with TPAD management.

Methods

We searched Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic R

SUBMITTER: Darragh PJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5910344 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature