Multimorbidity at Hospital Discharge Transition Essay

Introduction

The article under analysis is written by Doos et al. (2014) and entitled “Heart Failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Multimorbidity at Hospital Discharge Transition: A Study of Patient and Carer Experience.” The article focuses on hospital discharge transition as seen by older patients. This study unveils the value the patients place on post-discharge contacts with healthcare professionals. This brief critique addresses the major aspects of the article in question.

Research Method, the Problem, and Purpose of the Research

Addressing the needs of patients with multimorbidity is one of the most significant challenges for care providers while admission and readmission rates of such patients are rather high. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the views of COPD and heart failure patients and healthcare providers as well as the gaps in the healthcare system. Doos et al. (2014) use the mixed method design. They use quantitative analysis to explore some of the most common views on patients’ experiences after their discharge and use qualitative methods to gain more insights into the perspectives of patients on treatment outcomes, their overall satisfaction, and so forth.Multimorbidity at Hospital Discharge Transition Essay

Research Questions, Methods of Data Analysis Used

The authors do not set specific research questions, but it is possible to identify the major focus of their analysis. Doos et al. (2014) try to explore patients’ assessment of the care they received and identify the value of each area mentioned by the participants. The quantitative data were used to examine the participants’ overall views on their hospital experiences. Doos et al. (2014) employed American Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems questionnaire to identify some of the most common points the patients might display. This questionnaire covers such areas as communication with the providers of care, hospital stay satisfaction, data on any medical issues they encountered, their recommendations. The qualitative analysis phase involved the use of interviews with some of the participants. The interviews aimed at exploring the values the patients place on each item that could arise during the quantitative data collection stage.Multimorbidity at Hospital Discharge Transition Essay