Who is Responsible for Discharge Education of Patients? A Multi-Institutional Survey of Internal Medicine Residents

Background: Safely and effectively discharging a patient from the hospital requires working within a multidisciplinary team. However, little is known about how perceptions of responsibility among the team impact discharge communication practices. Objective: Our study attempts to understand residents’ perceptions of who is primarily responsible for discharge education, how these perceptions affect their own reported communication with patients, and how residents envision improving multidisciplinary communication around discharges. Design: A multi-institutional cross-sectional survey. Participants: Internal medicine (IM) residents from seven US residency programs at academic medical centers were invited to participate between March and May 2019, via email of an electronic link to the survey. Main Measures: Data collected included resident perception of who on the multidisciplinary team is primarily responsible for discharge communication, their own reported discharge communication practices, and open-ended comments on ways discharge multidisciplinary team communication could be improved. Key Results: Of the 613 resident responses (63% response rate), 35% reported they were unsure which member of the multidisciplinary team is primarily responsible for discharge education. Residents who believed it was either the intern’s or the resident’s primary responsibility had 4.28 (95% CI, 2.51–7.30) and 3.01 (95% CI, 1.66–5.71) times the odds, respectively, of reporting doing discharge communication practices frequently compared to those who were not sure who was primarily responsible. To improve multidisciplinary discharge communication, residents called for the following among team members: (1) clarifying roles and responsibilities for communication with patients, (2) setting expectations for communication among multidisciplinary team members, and (3) redefining culture around discharges. Conclusions: Residents report a lack of understanding of who is responsible for discharge education. This diffusion of ownership impacts how much residents invest in patient education, with more perceived responsibility associated with more frequent discharge communication.