The Quality of Discharge Summaries After Acute Kidney Injury

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) increases the risk of hospital readmission, chronic kidney disease, and death. Therefore, effective communication in discharge summaries is essential for safe transitions of care. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to determine the quality of discharge summaries in AKI survivors and identify predictors of higher quality discharge summaries. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: Tertiary care academic center in Ontario, Canada. PATIENTS: We examined the discharge summary quality of 300 randomly selected adult patients who survived a hospitalization with AKI at our tertiary care hospital, stratified by AKI severity. We included 150 patients each from 2015 to 2016 and 2018 to 2019, before and after introduction of a post-AKI clinic in 2017. MEASUREMENTS: We reviewed charts for 9 elements of AKI care to create a composite score summarizing discharge summary quality. METHODS: We used multivariable logistic regression to identify predictors of discharge summary quality. RESULTS: The median discharge summary composite score was 4/9 (interquartile range, 2-6). The least frequently mentioned elements were baseline creatinine (n = 55, 18%), AKI-specific follow-up labs (n = 66, 22%), and medication recommendations (n = 80, 27%). The odds of having a higher quality discharge summary (composite score ≥4/9) was greater for every increase in baseline creatinine of 25 μmol/L (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03, 1.56), intrarenal etiology (aOR: 2.32; 95% CI: 1.26, 4.27), and increased AKI severity (stage 2 aOR: 2.57; 95% CI: 1.35, 4.91 and stage 3 aOR: 3.36; 95% CI: 1.56, 7.22). There was no association between discharge summary quality and the years before and after introduction of a post-AKI clinic (aOR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.46, 1.29). LIMITATIONS: The single-center study design limits generalizability. CONCLUSIONS: Most discharge summaries are missing key AKI elements, even in patients with severe AKI. These gaps suggest several opportunities exist to improve discharge summary communication following AKI.