Emergency Transfer Communication Measure
Identifying Attributes
Care Settings
Country
Publishing Organisation
Type of Quality Indicator
IOM Quality Dimension
Setting-Specific Domain
Defining Attributes
Definition
Percentage of all patients transferred from an Emergency Department to another healthcare facility whose medical record documentation indicated that all required information was communicated (sent) to the receiving facility within 60 minutes of transfer.
Numerator
Number of patients transferred from an ED to another healthcare facility whose medical record documentation indicated that all of the following relevant elements were documented and communicated to the receiving hospital in a timely manner: Home Medications, Allergies and Reactions, Medications Administered in ED, ED Provider Note, Mental Status and Orientation Assessment, Reason for Transfer and Plan of Care, Tests and/or Procedures Performed, Tests and/or Procedures Results. For all data elements, the definition of 'sent' includes the following: Hard copy sent directly with the patient, or Sent via fax or phone within 60 minutes of patient departure, or Immediately available via shared Electronic health record (EHR) or Health Information Exchange (HIE)
Denominator
Transfers from an ED to another healthcare facility Included Population: All transfers from an ED to another healthcare facility
Exclusions
All emergency department patients not discharged to another healthcare facility. Those admitted, sent home, left AMA, those on observations status, etc.
Use of Risk Adjustment
Risk Adjustments
None
Stratifications
None
Collection and Reporting Attributes
Type of Data Collection
Data Collection Methods
Claims, Electronic Health Data, Electronic Health Records: Electronic Health Records, Management Data, Paper Medical Records
Frequency of Data Collection
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
Reporting Methods
Measure Retired and Endorsement Removed in November 2020 (did not meet the Scientific Acceptability criteria for reliability - the data element-level inter-rater reliability testing produced a low kappa statistic score, which would be considered systematic error)
Reporting Frequency
Reporting Frequency in Days
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
Source and Reference Attributes
Evidence Source
University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center rhrc.umn.edu/publication/ed-transfer-submission-manual/
National Quality Forum: Emergency Department Transitions of Care: A Quality Measurement Framework ciesandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/National-Quality-Forum-Emergency-Department-Transitions-of-Care.pdf
p4qm.org/measures/0291
www.qualityforum.org/QPS/0291