🤔 Question: A question regarding two different cases where patients were admitted to inpatient hospice (with admit to Hospice order). The first case, the Burn Service continued to write notes each day while still managing their burns. The patient eventually died a couple of days later. The second case, the patient was admitted to inpatient hospice and died an hour later. The question is if the patient is under hospice care with an admit order would this end the encounter for abstracting in the registry even if we are still providing comfort care measures or do we continue the abstraction until the patient either discharges from the hospital or dies?

🌱 Answer: Yes, if the burn service has admitted, then transferred to hospice (in-pt hospice in the same hospital), consulted on a patient who is in hospice or consulted on a patient who is subsequently transferred to hospice, that patient should be tracked in the burn registry. So, if the patient was admitted to the Burn Service for treatment of a burn injury and then transferred to an inpatient hospice unit in the same facility, which seems to be the case for both patients, they will stay in the registry until they die in hospice care or are discharged from the hospital.
If you look at the Discharge Date in the 2024 Data Dictionary under Additional Information, it states:
The Discharge Date depends on the cause of other conditions that the patient has which require transfer to another service for care after treatment of the burn injury is completed (i.e. stroke, seizures, anoxic brain injury).
• If this condition is a result of the burn injury or its complications, then the hospital length of stay continues, and the discharge date is when the patient is discharged (or died) from the hospital.
• If this condition is unrelated to the burn injury or its complications, then the discharge date is the date the patient is transferred to the service taking over the care of the patient and enter for Discharge Disposition – Discharged/transferred to a Short-term General Hospital for Inpatient Care.

🤔 Question: For percent wound closure at time of discharge, occasionally an actual percentage is not given/known at time of discharge. Currently there is only a "not applicable" as an option. Is it possible to have not/know/not recorded option added here too?

🌱 Answer: No, you should discuss this with your clinical staff and obtain the best estimate for this and have them document this in the record.  If you can't obtain this, you should leave it blank.