- Electronic health data related to a healthcare encounter or episode of care and including essential information about admission, treatment and discharge of a natural person.
- Hospital discharge summaries serve as the primary documents communicating a patient’s care plan to the post-hospital care team. Often, the discharge summary is the only form of communication that accompanies the patient to the next setting of care. It is a report which encompasses a summary of events occurred during a hospital encounter usually manifesting as a hospital admission, stay and discharge, and including communication of a care plan. For a more detailed list of elements, please refer to the dataset (Chapter 4).
Acronym / Synonym
Discharge Report, hospital discharge report, hospital discharge summary
Definition Source
2) Kind AJH, Smith MA. Documentation of Mandated Discharge Summary Components in Transitions from Acute to Subacute Care. In: Henriksen K, Battles JB, Keyes MA, et al., editors. Advances in Patient Safety:
New Directions and Alternative Approaches (Vol. 2: Culture and Redesign). Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2008 Aug. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK43715/