Physician Visits After Discharge From Hospital

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Care Transitions
Country
Canada
Publishing Organisation
Health Quality Ontario
Type of Quality Indicator
Process
IOM Quality Dimension
Timeliness
Domain
Follow-Up

Defining Attributes

Definition

Percentage of patients with a hospital stay for specified conditions who saw their physician within 7 days of discharge. Conditions include: Acute Myocardial Infarction (age>= 45 years); Cardiac conditions (excluding AMI, CHF) (age>= 40 years); Congestive heart failure (age>=45 years); Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Pneumonia (all ages); Diabetes (all ages); Stroke (age>=45 years); Gastrointestinal disease (all ages).

Numerator

Ontario physician visits taking place in office, home, or long-term care; Physician visits occurring within 0 to 7 days of discharge (i.e., includes date of discharge).

Denominator

Discharges from acute care hospitals with discharge date in the reporting period; Inpatient episodes assigned to any of the conditions; Cases that are typical, transfer in, short stay, long stay or long stay transfer in per the HIG atypical indicator.

Exclusions

Deaths, acute transfers, patient sign-outs against medical advice; Records with missing or invalid data on discharge/admission date, health number, age or gender; Transfers to other hospital care and to other (palliative care/hospice, addiction treatment centre).

Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments
Stratifications

Age, discharge destination.

Data Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods

Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI); Claims History Database (CHDB), Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC).

Frequency of Data Collection
Quarterly
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
91
Reporting Methods
Reporting Frequency
Annually
Reporting Frequency in Days
365
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

Source and Reference Attributes

Technical Specifications
Link to Measurement Tools
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
12 March 2025