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IMPROVING PATIENT CARE

Improving Patient Care is a special section within Annals supported in part by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the position or endorsement of AHRQ or HHS.

Lost in Transition: Challenges and Opportunities for Improving the Quality of Transitional Care

Eric A. Coleman, MD, MPH, and Robert A. Berenson, MD

5 October 2004 | Volume 141 Issue 7 | Pages 533-536

Transitional care has been defined as a set of actions designed to ensure the coordination and continuity of health care as patients transfer between different locations or different levels of care in the same location. Transitional care, which primarily concerns the relatively brief time interval that begins with preparing a patient to leave one setting and concludes when the patient is received in the next setting, poses challenges that distinguish it from other types of care. Many transitions are unplanned, result from unanticipated medical problems, occur in "real time" during nights and on weekends, involve clinicians who may not have an ongoing relationship with the patient, and happen so quickly that formal and informal support mechanisms cannot respond in a timely manner. This article describes the challenges involved in and potential solutions for improving the quality of transitional care.

Author and Article Information

From University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Aurora, Colorado, and The Urban Institute Health Policy Center, Washington, DC.

Grant Support: By Paul Beeson Faculty Scholars in Aging Research/American Federation for Aging Research.

Potential Financial Conflicts of Interest: None disclosed.

Requests for Single Reprints: Eric A. Coleman, MD, MPH, Divisions of Health Care Policy and Research and Geriatric Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, 13611 East Colfax, Suite 100, Aurora, CO 80011; e-mail, Eric.Coleman{at}uchsc.edu.

Current Author Addresses: Dr. Coleman: Divisions of Health Care Policy and Research and Geriatric Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, 13611 East Colfax, Suite 100, Aurora, CO 80011.

Dr. Berenson: The Urban Institute Health Policy Center, 2100 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20037.

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