Consensus on Care Transitions: Time for All of Us to Step Up to the Plate

Previous research on care transitions between inpatient and outpatient settings has revealed a high rate of medication discrepancies, lack of adequate and timely communication between caregivers during transitions, and minimal involvement of patients and families in the transition process. To address these issues, the Transitions of Care Consensus Conference convened a multidisciplinary group that represented more than 30 major medical professional organizations, including general internists, hospitalists, geriatricians, and emergency medicine physicians, and government agencies. This group was charged with identifying a core set of principles for effective care transitions and defining a set of standards to achieve the basic tenets of those principles (Table).