The Importance of ADTs: 3 Things to Know
ADTs–or admission, discharge, and transfer messages–refer to the notification alerts generated by hospitals when a patient is admitted, discharged, or transferred from the hospital.
ADTs are at the center of discussion in California’s Data Exchange Framework (DxF) development, as the California Center for Data Insights and Innovation (CDII) recently presented a policy that wouldn’t require hospitals to send ADTs to Qualified Health Information Organizations (QHIOs). This is a departure from previous discussions, and a change many stakeholders worry will limit the effectiveness of the DxF.
The goal of the DxF, California’s first-ever, statewide data sharing agreement, is to accelerate and expand the exchange of health information among health care entities, government agencies, and social service programs beginning in 2024.
At a May town hall-style event at the 2023 Northern California State of Reform Health Policy Conference in Sacramento, Calif., Bill Barcellona of America’s Physician Groups and Jennifer Inden of Aliados Health spoke to the importance of ADTs and the need to ensure ADTs move between hospitals and care teams.
Here are three insights they shared:
1. ADTs provide the foundation for care coordination.
“Making sure ADTs get to where they need to go is how we take preemptive action to ensure care coordination,” said Inden. By alerting a patient’s provider team when the patient’s hospital status changes, ADTs put in motion the process to coordinate needed services to best support the individual, she explained.
2. ADTs reduce unnecessary readmissions to the hospital.
When patients get connected to services while they’re in the hospital or about to be released, they’re less likely to be unnecessarily readmitted soon after discharge, explained Barcellona. The time immediately following a hospital stay is critical for providing whole-person care and connecting the various providers who support an individual, including primary care providers and social services providers.
3. ADTs save lives, particularly for vulnerable seniors.
“[With ADTs,] we can get the right kind of information together to make sure that seniors have the right medication therapy management, and they’re getting the right kind of post-discharge counseling,” said Barcellona. With ADTs, critical follow-up can happen without delay, he added.
To learn more, visit our data exchange information hub.
