Improving Measurement of Health Care Transitions through Key Stakeholders' Eyes [Methods Study], Massachusetts, 2015-2019

During care transitions, patients move from one care setting to another, such as from the hospital to home. If not done well, these care transitions can result in health problems for patients and the need for them to return to the hospital.
Healthcare organizations can use patient surveys to measure the success of care transitions. One survey about the quality of care transitions already exists. The survey was created with input from patients but with no input from caregivers and healthcare providers. In addition, the survey doesn't ask about topics that patients may find important, such as caregiver involvement and the time after care transitions.
In this study, the research team created and tested a new survey. To create the survey, the team asked for input from patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers. The team tested whether the survey was
Valid, or able to correctly capture what it intends to measure
Reliable, or able to get consistent answers