Hospital Discharge and the role of ICTs: considering patient perspectives

Hospital discharge is associated with high risks and potential adverse events for patients. While significant efforts have been made to improve discharge, patients and their families/carers have tended to be marginalized in discharge processes. Evidence from user-centred approaches to the development of eHealth emphasize the importance of engaging end-users to optimize the safety and quality of health services. This paper promotes a patient-centred approach focusing on discharge back to the community and the development of electronic tools as a method for contributing to improving the safety and quality of discharge processes. Understanding and engaging with patients as end-users avoids simplistic techno-centric and info-centric approaches to discharge improvement.