INCIDENCE ADVERSE EVENTS DURING HOSPITALIZATION TRANSPORT TO COMMUNITY HOSPITAL OF KHON KAEN HOSPITAL, KHON KAEN PROVINCE

Abstract

Transporting patents to community hospital is a process to reduce overcrowding in hospitals. However, the patients have been facing the adverse events especially safety risks during a referral process. This research aimed at studying the incidence of adverse events during hospitalization transport to a community hospital of Khon Kaen Hospital, Khon Kaen Province. This is a descriptive study collecting data from patients’ medical records. The samples were 441 patients who stayed in the hospital and were assessed by physicians for their referral, from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2021. The follow-up process consisted of 1) sending patient information to a community hospital by the referral center, 2) preparing patients before transfer them, 3) transporting patients, 4) 48-hour follow up after arriving at the community hospital. The incidence rate was reported together with the 95% confidence interval.          

The results showed the incidence of adverse events of 26.1 per 100 persons-years (95%CI = 22.2-30.4). It was found that the adverse events could worsen 101 patients during transport to the community hospital, or 87.8 per persons-years (95%CI = 80.4-92.7).

In conclusion, the adverse events during transport to a community hospital were relatively high. Therefore, there should be guidelines for monitoring the incidence of adverse events, particularly patient preparation before the referral process as well as regular operation in assessing patients’ symptom.