The Impact of Hospital Health Network Affiliation on Discharge Communication Preferences of Primary Care Providers.

Primary care physicians (PCPs) experience differential postdischarge access to electronic health records, depending upon affiliation with the discharging hospital's health network. To better understand whether this affiliation impacts discharge communication preferences, we surveyed a convenience sample of PCPs in and out of our hospital's health network. We also surveyed hospitalists and compared PCPs' and hospitalists' responses. We found that PCP discharge communication preferences differed by hospital health network affiliation. In addition, PCPs and hospitalists reported different expectations of responsibility for pending laboratory test follow-up. More inclusive communication strategies and standardization of responsibility for pending laboratory results may improve discharge communication quality.