Faxed Patient Report Form

[MoodyButt]

We are considering faxed patient reports to inpatient units. Anyone want to give advise on this, pro's, con's, what your policy is? Anyone have a form they are willing to share? Thanks in advance.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

We fax our actual nursing documentation.

PM me if you need more info. :)

[raynefall]

I'll give you a pro about using fax reports, we no longer have to wait minutes to get the nurse on the line. We just find out who will be receiving the patient and fax the report.

[MS._Jen_RN, ASN, RN]

Keep in mind tht JACHO requires that there be an opportunity to ask questions. Also, I've heard from ppl on the recieving end of the faxed report that the sending unit would fax the paper and send the pt up. If the RN doen't recieve that paper in the few minutes that it took to wheel the patient over they are recieving a pt they know nothing about. "Surpise!" I have also "caught" pts that would have been inappropiate admits to my unit by hearing report and asking questions. This opportuniy could be decreased by faxing the papaer and them sending the patient and potentially the patient could just be sent back.

~Jen

[tamc1968]

We have been using fax reports for about a year now and I have to say it has worked quite well. We fax, confirm the floor got the fax and 15 minutes later the pt. goes to the floor. It is much better than calling the floor and waiting for the nurse to get to the phone which sometimes doesn't happen for a long time. We fax a transfer form , admit orders, triage sheet and bedside nursing records.

[timdmb]

we used the faxed report. im personally 110% against it. there are numerous inappropriate admissions which would have been easily diverted with a verbal report. lab draws are missed on occasion. rn to rn communication is broken down with the faxed report i think it breaks down the continuity of care for the pt. just my two cents

[tamc1968]

I think this works for us because our transfer form is quite detailed but not so much that it takes a lot of time. We do call the floor and the secretary notifies the pts. nurse that the fax has just been confirmed. The floor nurse takes a look at the faxed transfer,orders and bedside sheets and accepts the pt. or calls the ED to speak with the nurse to ask questions or to request a delay in transferring the pt. This allows time for questions to be answered and in the last year I have not heard of any inappropriate admissions. I hope this is helping!

[MoodyButt]

Would you be interested in sharing your transfer form?

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

We are considering faxed patient reports to inpatient units. Anyone want to give advise on this, pro's, con's, what your policy is? Anyone have a form they are willing to share? Thanks in advance.

There have been several threads on this.

General consensus is that the ER likes it and the receiving units dislike it. While it saves ER time, it limits info that the receiving nurse gets. And I personally have received several patients that had to be sent elsewhere due to omissions on the report. If one accounts the amount of wasted energy, time, and care, while it saves time for the ER, it doesn't for the floor.

Part of the issue....each nursing dept has different priorities. And few of the forms recognize this.

The other issue is with the new JCAHO reqs, is that there has to be a certain give and take off info that does not occur. The big issues are getting a hold of the nurse - I often have people giving me a report that are either not caring for the patient directly or did not obtain the orders from the MD and therefore do not know what was addressed and what wasn't.

[bill4745, RN]

They work well for us. We make sure the form was received. It eliminates the "ER nurse didn't tell me that" since there is a written record. Eliminates phone tag.

[tamc1968]

Moody,

I don't mind getting a copy of a report from the ER for you but how will I get it to you?

[mmutk, BSN, RN, EMT-I]

We fax our chart w/ an SBAR type cover sheet. Works well, we call to confirm they receive the report and if the nurse has any questions they call us back.