Transition of care involves patients moving from one care setting to another care setting. Transitions can be between an acute setting and a chronic setting. Or, they could be within one setting, such as hospitals, long-term care providers, and clinics.
Up to 70% of medical errors are due to miscommunications during the transition of care. These missteps may occur due to:
- Suddenly emerging needs of patients.
- Differences in procedures and care between facilities.
- Lack of established hand-off communication tools for health care providers to use.
A helpful resource may be Sharing Kidney Care, a toolkit that aims to help providers improve care transitions for kidney patients.