7-day-follow-up-after-leaving-hospital - Health Quality Ontario (HQO)

INDICATOR NAME

Name

Patient follow-up with a primary care doctor after leaving hospital for selected conditions

Alternate Name

7 day follow-up after leaving hospital for selected conditions

INDICATOR DESCRIPTION

Description

This indicator measures the percentage of patients who have follow-up visits with a primary care doctor within seven days of discharge after hospitalization for any of the following conditions: pneumonia, diabetes, stroke, gastrointestinal disease, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart attack and other cardiac conditions (selected HBAM Inpatient Grouper (HIG) conditions).

HQO Reporting tool/product

Public reporting

Dimension

Effective, Timely

Type

Process

DEFINITION AND SOURCE INFORMATION

Unit of Measurement

Percentage

Calculation Methods

Numerator divided by the denominator times 100

Numerator (short description i.e. not inclusions/exclusions)

Number of patients who had a primary care physician visit within 7 days of discharge after hospitalization for any of the following conditions: pneumonia, diabetes, stroke, gastrointestinal disease, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart attack and other cardiac conditions (selected HBAM Inpatient Grouper (HIG) conditions). .

Denominator (short description i.e. not inclusions/exclusions)

Number of patients discharged from hospital after hospitalization for any of the following conditions: pneumonia, diabetes, stroke, gastrointestinal disease, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart attack and other cardiac conditions(selected HBAM Inpatient Grouper (HIG) conditions). .

Adjustment (risk, age/sex standardization)- generalized

None

Data Source

Client Agency Program Data (CAPE), Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) Claims History Database

Data provided to HQO by

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC)

Reported Levels of comparability /stratifications (defined)

Income, Region, Rurality, Sex, Time

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

Caveats and Limitations

Other types of follow-up (e.g. with a specialist or nurse practitioner) are not captured by this indicator. Follow-up visit is not condition/discharge-specific and does not necessarily have the same reason for visit as the hospitalization. It captures a visit for any reason within 7 days and may include visits unrelated to the index hospitalization. Due to age restrictions/differences for some conditions the results are not reported by age groups. Deaths which take place in the community within 7 days following discharge are not able to accounted for and cannot be removed from the calculation.