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A ticket to ride: Experimental white boards prepare patients for discharge, improve communication

Case Management Weekly, April 11, 2007

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In an effort to expedite the discharge process, the staff on the acute care of the elderly (ACE) floor at the Virginia Mason Medical Center (VMMC) in Seattle, WA, started offering their patients a "Ticket Home" in the form of a new white laminated board posted in every patient room.

The goal of the Ticket Home boards is to improve communication and the readiness of patients to move on to the next level of care, or home, says Debra Beauchaine, NP, geriatrics service director at VMMC.

"Geriatrics was a good place to start Ticket Home because our patients have complex discharge needs and often need to go to a post-acute care facility before going home," says Beauchaine.

The Ticket Home message boards help patients and staff track key factors that will affect discharges such as patient mobility, functional independence, and level of pain, says Beauchaine.

The boards are mounted on the wall at the foot of a patient's bed, and in large permanent black letters, display all the fundamental questions about an individual's progress.

Source: Case Management Monthly, May 2007

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