The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health system in the nation. Veterans seeking care through the VHA experience a broad variety of medical and psychiatric illnesses that lead to hospital admissions. Currently, there is no standard post-discharge practice for Veteran patients transitioning back home from VHA hospitals. To assist the VHA in standardizing postdischarges procedures, the VA Office of Primary Care requested this review to assess the impact of post-discharge patient contacts in the first 7 days after leaving the hospital on emergency care use, hospital readmission rates, and patient satisfaction with care to ensure that effective transitional care is provided to Veterans seeking care through the VHA.
