Questions for Patients in Targeted Population

To assist you with assessing the impact of the Project RED (Re-Engineered Discharge) intervention, consider speaking with patients in the targeted population prior launching your Project RED intervention and then 6 and 12 months after implementation. For example, if your intervention targets patients with heart failure discharged from a particular unit, consider calling some patients who were discharged in the past 30 days prior to project launch.

Please note that this call is a quality measurement tool to assess the patient's opinions about how well he or she was prepared for discharge and self-care after discharge. It should not be confused with the Post Discharge Follow-Up Phone Call [link] that is one of the Project RED components.

You may want to include the questions below in the post-discharge follow-up call or have the quality improvement staff call some of the targeted patients to evaluate any differences pre and post intervention. A sample script follows.

Script

Hello, I'm calling from [Hospital Name] and would like to ask you a few questions about how well you were prepared for leaving the hospital. Do you have a few minutes to answer a few questions that will help us improve how we teach patients and family members to better care for themselves after leaving the hospital? Thank you.

1. When you left the hospital, did you know the names of the medicines your doctor prescribed for you? Yes or No
   • Do you know and understand the purpose of each medicine? Yes or No
   • Do you know how and when to take each medicine? Yes or No
2. Did you know when you should call your doctor if there was a change in your condition? Yes or No
3. Did you know how to reach your doctor? Yes or No
4. Did you know when to seek emergency care if there was a change in your condition? Yes or No
5. When you left the hospital, were you given written information about:
   • Your medicines? Yes or No
   • Your disease or condition? Yes or No
   • When to seek medical attention? Yes or No
6. Were you able to follow these instructions when you got home? Yes or No
   If no, please explain.
7. Were you told about any tests you still needed to have? Yes or No
8. Were you told if any test results had not been completed? Yes or No
   • If any tests or test results were incomplete, were you told if you were supposed to do anything about this? Yes or No
9. Were you told about follow-up appointments your doctor wanted you to have? Yes or No
   • Were these follow-up appointments scheduled for you before you left the hospital? Yes or No
     If no, have you made your appointments? Yes or No
   • If the appointments were scheduled for you, were they made with your input so they would fit your schedule? Yes or No
   • If your input was not considered, were you able to make the appointment at the time scheduled for you? Yes or No
     If not, why not?
10. Did you get answers to all your questions before leaving the hospital? Yes or No
    Was there enough time to ask your questions? Yes or No
11. What else could we have done to better prepare you take care of yourself at home?

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