Abstract
We compared the information contained in traditional ‘To Take Out (TTO)’ discharge prescriptions and dictated letters with the information in discharge summaries from an online system. We also investigated the satisfaction of general practitioners (GPs) with the two types of discharge communication. One group of 30 patients were discharged using traditional TTOs and dictated letters and a second group of 30 patients was discharged using the computer generated summary. The summaries were assessed against the 17 criteria of the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. The number of criteria met in the conventional summaries was 10.5 (SD 4.3); the number of criteria met in the computer-generated summaries was 14 (SD 1.2), which was significantly higher (P<0.002). Twelve of the 30 traditional TTOs (40%) were considered illegible. The response rate to the questionnaire was 86%. Eighty-three percent of responding GPs preferred computer generated discharge summaries. The computer generated discharge summaries largely satisfied the guidelines and were enthusiastically received by the GPs surveyed.
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