Abstract
Objectives:
Readmission rates are a routinely used measure of patient and service outcomes, potentially improved by discharge planning. This pilot study aimed to develop a discharge checklist for psychiatric inpatients, exploring its feasibility, applicability, and impact on readmission rates.
Methods:
The study used a quasi-experimental, pre–post intervention design. The checklist was designed from an evidence-based literature review, and introduced for a three-month period, comparing 28-day readmission rates with the previous three months using interrupted time series analysis.
Results:
Checklists were completed for 80% of patients in the trial period, with 100% completion of checklist items. Demographic and clinical details for pre- and post-intervention groups were closely aligned. There was a small, but statistically non-significant, reduction in readmission rates.
Conclusions:
There was a high rate of checklist completion. The lack of significant reductions in readmission rates supports more development of the checklist application and design before a longer implementation period and re-evaluation.
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Supplementary Material
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