TY - JOUR
T1 - Methods and effectiveness of communication between hospital allied health and primary care practitioners
T2 - A systematic narrative review
AU - Sheehan, Jacinta
AU - Laver, Kate
AU - Bhopti, Anoo
AU - Rahja, Miia
AU - Usherwood, Tim
AU - Clemson, Lindy
AU - Lannin, Natasha A.
PY - 2021/2/22
Y1 - 2021/2/22
N2 - Background: There is a compelling rationale that effective communication between hospital allied health and primary care practitioners may improve the quality and continuity of patient care. It is not known which methods of communication to use, nor how effectively they facilitate the transition of care when a patient is discharged home from hospital. Our systematic review aims to investigate the methods and effectiveness of communication between hospital allied health and primary care practitioners. Methods: Systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies with narrative synthesis. Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycInfo and Proquest Nursing and Allied Health Sources were searched from January 2003 until January 2020 for studies that examined hospital-based allied health professionals communicating with community-based primary care practi-tioners. Risk of bias in the different study designs was appraised using recognized tools and a content analysis conducted of the methodologies used. Results: From the located 12,281 papers (duplicates removed), 24 studies met the inclusion criteria with hospital allied health communicating in some form with primary care practitioners. While none of the included studies specifically investigated the methods or effectiveness of communication between hospital allied health and primary care practitioners, 12 of the 24 studies described processes that addressed components of their discharge communication. Four enablers to effective communication between hospital allied health and primary care practitioners were identified: multidisciplinary care plans, patient and caregiver involvement, health information technology and a designated person for follow up/care management. Conclusion: There is currently no “gold standard” method or measure of communication between hospital allied health and primary care practitioners. There is an urgent need to develop and evaluate multidisciplinary communication with enhanced information technologies to improve collaboration across care settings and facilitate the continuity of integrated people-centered care.
AB - Background: There is a compelling rationale that effective communication between hospital allied health and primary care practitioners may improve the quality and continuity of patient care. It is not known which methods of communication to use, nor how effectively they facilitate the transition of care when a patient is discharged home from hospital. Our systematic review aims to investigate the methods and effectiveness of communication between hospital allied health and primary care practitioners. Methods: Systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies with narrative synthesis. Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycInfo and Proquest Nursing and Allied Health Sources were searched from January 2003 until January 2020 for studies that examined hospital-based allied health professionals communicating with community-based primary care practi-tioners. Risk of bias in the different study designs was appraised using recognized tools and a content analysis conducted of the methodologies used. Results: From the located 12,281 papers (duplicates removed), 24 studies met the inclusion criteria with hospital allied health communicating in some form with primary care practitioners. While none of the included studies specifically investigated the methods or effectiveness of communication between hospital allied health and primary care practitioners, 12 of the 24 studies described processes that addressed components of their discharge communication. Four enablers to effective communication between hospital allied health and primary care practitioners were identified: multidisciplinary care plans, patient and caregiver involvement, health information technology and a designated person for follow up/care management. Conclusion: There is currently no “gold standard” method or measure of communication between hospital allied health and primary care practitioners. There is an urgent need to develop and evaluate multidisciplinary communication with enhanced information technologies to improve collaboration across care settings and facilitate the continuity of integrated people-centered care.
KW - Collaboration
KW - Continuity of care
KW - Discharge plan
KW - Multidisciplinary
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85102177334&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2147/JMDH.S295549
DO - 10.2147/JMDH.S295549
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85102177334
SN - 1178-2390
VL - 14
SP - 493
EP - 511
JO - Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare
JF - Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare
ER -