Enhancing Patient Care and Efficiency in Gastroenterology Nursing Through Standardized Discharge Instructions

This quality improvement initiative at Hartford HealthCare Endoscopy Unit was designed to enhance both patient outcomes and operational efficiency by implementing standardized, procedure-specific discharge instructions. Standardized discharge instructions reduce complications, increase patient satisfaction, and decrease readmissions. The goal was to improve patient satisfaction metrics (Press Ganey overall satisfaction and instruction regarding recovery). To address inconsistencies in postprocedure care, the team employed the Plan-Do-Study-Act model to develop and implement structured discharge instruction documents. The instructions were reviewed for health literacy and translated into Spanish and Polish to ensure clear patient understanding. A key advancement was the seamless integration of these instructions into the electronic health record system via an interface between EndoWriter and the Epic electronic health record system, enabling patient access to personalized instructions through the MyChart portal. Preliminary outcomes demonstrated improvement across two measurement periods. The "Instructions Regarding Recovery" satisfaction score increased from 87.20% in calendar year 2022 to 89.17% in calendar year 2024 and similarly improved from 90.16% in calendar year 2024 to 92.64% in calendar year 2025. This initiative demonstrates the value of combining standardized, evidence-based, patient-centered education with electronic health record integration to improve postprocedure care, quality, and efficiency.