What are Some Barriers to Quality Transitional Care?

Question

Answer

• Poor integration of transitional care services
• Unmet patient or caregiver needs
• Underutilized services
• Lack of physician buy-in
• Absence of a single point person to ensure continuity of care

It is important to understand the barriers to quality transitional care. Some of these barriers include poor integration of transitional care services due to incomplete transfer of information from one setting or caregiver to another. Next, there are unmet patient or caregiver needs, such as inadequate education for patients and caregivers before discharge from the hospital or the post-acute facility. Post-acute services are underutilized. There can be a lack of buy-in by the physician, who primarily provides recommendations and prescriptions for post-acute care. And lastly, there is an absence of a single point person to ensure continuity of care, allowing patients to fall through the cracks. 

This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the course, The Importance of Respiratory Therapists in Post Acute Care, presented by Vrati Doshi, MSc, RRT.