Comparison Between Two Strategies of Discharge Planning for the Reduction of Short Term Hospital Readmissions (PROMENADE)

Comparison Between Two Strategies of Discharge Planning for the Reduction of Short Term Hospital Readmissions: A Cluster Randomized Cross-over Trial

The purpose of this study is to improve discharge planning effectiveness by comparing two strategies [on-Demand Discharge Planning (DDP) vs. Routine Discharge Planning (RDP)], in terms of reduction of hospital readmissions for inpatients classified at intermediate risk of complex discharge using the simplified Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score (BRASS).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The purpose of this study is to improve discharge planning effectiveness by comparing two strategies [on-Demand Discharge Planning (DDP) vs. Routine Discharge Planning (RDP)], in terms of reduction of hospital readmissions for inpatients classified at intermediate risk of complex discharge using the simplified Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score (BRASS).

Five Internal Medicine Unit and four Units of Neurology will be randomized to the two different strategies of discharge planning (RDP or DDP), based on two different alternating sequences of four periods (each period comprising three months). The randomization will be stratified by type of unit.

Patients at risk of complex discharge, according to the simplified BRASS score, are assigned to the Hospital Unit of Continuity of Care (NOCC) team, using the hospital telematics system. Afterwards, the NOCC team proposes an appropriate discharge planning, considering clinical and social needs.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

802

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Torino, Italy, 10100
        • AOU Città della Salute

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults patients (age ≥ 18 years);
  • Residents in Piedmont, Italy;
  • Patients admitted to General Internal Medicine or Neurology Units of Molinette Hospital (Turin)
  • Patients with a score in the simplified BRASS between 4 and 6 at admission

No specific exclusion criteria were applied.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: On Demand Discharge Planning (DDP)
Patients with an intermediate score, according to the simplified Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score, are addressed to the NOCC team only in case of a specific request by the unit of hospitalization.
Patients with an intermediate score, according to the simplified Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score, are addressed to the NOCC team (hospital Continuity of care team) only in case of a specific request by the unit of hospitalization.
Experimental: Routine Discharge Planning (RDP)
All patients with an intermediate threshold value of the simplified Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score are submitted to discharge planning by the NOCC team (Hospital Unit of Continuity of Care)
All patients with an intermediate threshold value of the simplified Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score are submitted to discharge planning by the NOCC team (Hospital Unit of Continuity of Care)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Unexpected hospital readmission within 90 days from discharge
Time Frame: 90 days
Proportion of hospital admissions in the standard admission regime within 90 days from the date of discharge. The endpoint will be calculated only for patients discharged alive. Readmissions for any cause under ordinary admissions will be considered as event. The Day Hospital re-admissions will not be considered for the endpoint calculation.
90 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Proportion of Long Length of Stay (LLOS)
Time Frame: 150 days
Proportion of admissions with long duration of hospitalization (LLOS - Long Length of Stay). The endpoint will be calculated for all hospitalized patients. An admission will be considered as LLOS if its duration will be higher than the 90th specific percentile for Diagnostic Related Group (DRG ) detected at the regional level in Piedmont in 2016.
150 days
Death within 90 days from discharge
Time Frame: 90 days
Proportion of deaths within 90 days of discharge date. The endpoint will be calculated only for patients discharged alive. Death for any cause will be considered as event.
90 days
Proportion of patients reported to the NOCC team during the DDP-experimental phase
Time Frame: 150 days
Incidence of activations of the NOCC in the periods of adoption of the DDP strategy (only for admissions treated with DDP strategy)
150 days
Healthcare costs until 90 days from the discharge
Time Frame: 90 days
Health care costs charged to the National Health Service (NHS) between the date of admission and 90 days from the date of discharge or death of the patient.
90 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Daniela Corsi, MD, Azienda Ospedaliera Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

June 1, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 12, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

October 13, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 13, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 16, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

February 19, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 29, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 15, 2022

Last Verified

March 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CS2/378/2017

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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