Method for improving the quality of discharge summaries written by a general medical team.

We developed a writing rubric that assessed the quality of four common errors found in the synopsis of a discharge summary: relevance, accuracy, clarity and presentation (R-A-C-P). We assessed the effect of an intervention that taught the essentials of discharge summary preparation. The intervention reduced the number of inadequate discharge summaries written by medical staff on a busy medical service. Writing the clinical synopsis of a discharge summary is a skill that can be taught quickly.