Patient-centered emergency planning is a multifaceted process that begins with the completion of an acute care hospitalization (ACH) risk assessment that provides for the identification of patients at risk for rehospitalization. Once a patient is identified as high risk, an emergency plan of care must then be collaboratively developed based on the findings from the assessment, followed by the effective triage of incoming calls from patients/caregivers. This article discusses the fundamentals of this triad: ACH risk assessment, emergency planning, and teletriage. The experiences of two home care agencies in two different states of the United States that have implemented these interventions is also shared.
Coleman, E., & Berenson, A. (2004). Lost in transition: Challenges and opportunities for improving the quality of transitional care. Annals of Internal Medicine, 141, 533-536.
2.
Fortinsky, R., Madigan, E., Sheehan, T., Tullai-McGuinness, S., & Fenster, J. (2006). Risk factors for hospitalization among Medicare home care patients. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 28, 902-917.
3.
MacColl Institute. (2006). Chronic care model. Retrieved February 15, 2007, from http://www.improvingchroniccare.org/change/businesscase/questions.html.
4.
Institute of Medicine. (2007). Patient centered care: An overview. Retrieved March 28, 2007 , from http://www.cmwf.org/General/General.
5.
QSource home health quality measures. (2007, February). Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://www.medicare.gov/HHCCompare .
6.
Quality Insights of Pennsylvania. (2006, September). Home Telehealth Reference 2006/2007. Retrieved October 12, 2006, from http://www.medqic.org/dcs/contentserver?cid=1157485199575@pagename=medqic%2fmqtools%2ftooltemplate&c=mqtools
7.
Quality Insights of Pennsylvania. (2007). Emergency care planning. Best Practice Intervention Package (Pub # 8SOW-PA-HHQ07.386) . Retrieved March 3, 2007, from http://medqic.org .
