Implementing the IDEAL Discharge Checklist: Implications for Transitions from Hospital to Home

Evidence shows that a systematic and coordinated approach to transitions from the hospital to home improve patient outcomes, including a reduction in hospital readmissions.2,3This is a proposal for a Quality Improvement project to pilot the use of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's IDEAL discharge process, asking this question: In adult surgical patients, how does the use of the IDEAL discharge process affect patient outcomes post-discharge, including readmission rates, as compared with a standard discharge process, with-in a 30-day period?