Objective: This study aimed to review the association between timeliness to completion of a discharge summary to 30-day readmission to the hospital.
Methods: This was a retrospective chart review of 109 patients discharged from Mayo Clinic Hospital.
Results: Twenty-four of these patients were readmitted within 30 days. The time to completion of discharge summary was categorized for these readmissions to <72 hours: 15 (20%), between 72 hours and 7 days: 2 (11.1%), and >7 days: 7 (43.7%). There was no statistical significance for readmission for discharge summaries completed between 72 hours and 7 days compared with <72 hours (P = 0.44). There was statistical significance correlating readmission within 30 days to the discharge summary completed >7 days compared with <72 hours (P = 0.04).
Conclusions: This study found that discharge summaries completed >7 days have an increased association with 30-day readmission rate.