Patients may be transferred within the hospital during their care or to other settings outside of the hospital based on status and the need to meet their continuing care.
Let us consider the case of a patient who is transferred within the hospital. In this instance, the care team changes and so essential information related to the patient needs to be transferred with him or her to facilitate continuity of care for this patient. Thus, medications and other treatments for this patient can continue uninterrupted, and the patient’s status can be appropriately monitored.
What Health Information Management (HIM) / Medical Records (MR) practitioners need to know is in order to accomplish this information transfer when a patient is transferred within the hospital., the patient’s medical record(s) is transferred or information from the patient’s medical record is summarised at transfer as shown in the graphics below. If you work at a hospital which is already Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited or seeking JCI accreditation status or undergoing re-survey for JCI accreditation status, then this specific requirement is as stated for JCI MCI.8 which states that “Information related to the patient’s care is transferred with the patient.”
Another point to take note by the general reader is when a patient is transferred to other settings outside the hospital, the transfer process is documented in the patient’s medical record including documentation of any change in patient condition or status during transfer just as in the case for a patient transferred within the hospital, as I had posted in the post 5 transfer process entries that must be entered in a medical record (this link will open in a new tab of your current browser window).
I like to conclude that I think it is appropriate for HIM / MR practitioners who work at a hospital which is already JCI accredited or seeking JCI accreditation status or undergoing re-survey for JCI accreditation status, to take note that transfers within a hospital or to outside the hospital is covered by 1 standard under the Management of Communication and Information (MCI) chapter and by 5 JCI standards under the Access to Care and Continuity of Care (ACC) chapter respectively from the JCI Accreditation Standards For Hospitals, 4th Edition.
References:
- Joint Commission International, 2010, Joint Commission International Accreditation Standards For Hospitals, 4th edn, JCI, USA
