SGIM-AMDA-AGS Consensus Best Practice Recommendations for Transitioning Patients’ Healthcare from Skilled Nursing Facilities to the Community

Lee A. Lindquist, Rachel K. Miller, Wayne S. Saltsman, Jennifer Carnahan, Theresa A. Rowe, Alicia I. Arbaje, Nicole Werner, Kenneth Boockvar, Karl Steinberg, Shahla Baharlou

We assembled a cross-cutting team of experts representing primary care physicians (PCPs), home care physicians, physicians who see patients in skilled nursing facilities (SNF physicians), skilled nursing facility medical directors, human factors engineers, transitional care researchers, geriatricians, internists, family practitioners, and three major organizations: AMDA, SGIM, and AGS. This work was sponsored through a grant from the Association of Subspecialty Physicians (ASP). Members of the team mapped the process of discharging patients from a skilled nursing facility into the community and subsequent care of their outpatient PCP. Four areas of process improvement were identified, building on the prior work of the AMDA Transitions of Care Committee and the experiences of the team members. The team identified issues and developed best practices perceived as feasible for SNF physician and PCP practices to accomplish. The goal of these consensus-based recommended best practices is to provide a safe and high-quality transition for patients moving between the care of their SNF physician and PCP.