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Designed to protect health of senior citizen patients
Beginning Oct. 30, when a patient is transported from a nursing home to a hospital or returned to an assisted living facility, a real time clinical record -- including vital signs, diagnosis, medications, allergies and respiratory needs—will travel with the patient on a one page standardized form that 1,900 licensed health care facilities in New Jersey will be required to use.
New Jersey is one of the first states to require the use of the Universal Transfer Form (UTF) by hospitals, long-term care facilities, ambulatory care facilities, assisted living facilities and home health agencies.
“Accurate patient information at the time of transfer allows staff to begin caring for a patient upon arrival, improving patient care, reducing medical errors and streamlining the admission process,” state Health and Senior Services Commissioner Mary E. O’Dowd said Monday. “Knowledge of up-to-date clinical information will prevent patients from getting injured and will help patients recover with fewer complications.”
The transfer form was designed, tested, piloted and refined over the past three years by a task force comprised of leaders from the long-term care, hospital and home health industries as well as Health Care Quality Strategies Inc., a federally funded quality improvement organization.
The Health Care Association of New Jersey, New Jersey Hospital Association, LeadingAge New Jersey, Home Health Care Association of New Jersey, Rutgers University and other stakeholder groups joined the Health Department in developing the form.
