Difference between revisions of "Discharge Summary"

A '''discharge summary''' is a medical document that summarizes a patient's hospital course.  It is handwritten or typed, but never laminated, rarely framed.  It can be made available as paperback, hard cover, or with audio.  It includes pertinent information, such as a patient's favorite color or [[Man of Steel|childhood hero]].  The length of a '''discharge summary''' is inversely proportional to the length of the hospital stay.<ref>[http://gomerblog.com/2017/04/dc-summary-los/ Study: Length of D/C Summary Inversely Proportional to Length of Stay (LOS) (Gomerblog)]</ref><ref>[http://gomerblog.com/2015/05/discharge-summary/ Three-Sentence Discharge Summary For Six-Month Hospitalization (Gomerblog)]</ref>  In other words, expect a thorough documentation for an overnight stay, but also expect a [[Discharge Haiku|haiku]] if the patient has been in the hospital for more than 30 days.  To send a '''discharge summary''' to another provider for follow-up, simply fold into a paper plane and fly.<ref>[http://gomerblog.com/2016/11/paper-planes/ Stack of Paperwork Transforms into Fleet of Paper Planes (Gomerblog)]</ref>