What is an Admission, Discharge, and Transfer (ADT) System?

An admission, discharge, and transfer (ADT) system is a vital part of healthcare information systems and is responsible for tracking patients from their arrival at an institution until they are discharged home or transferred to another healthcare setting. The type of information kept within an ADT system includes patient names, ages, contact information, and medical record numbers.

The use of an ADT system keeps critical information easily accessible for healthcare professionals and makes it easily sharable with other facilities, thus improving the quality and speed of patient care. 

Benefits of an ADT System 

By standardizing the collection of patient medical data, an admission, discharge, and transfer system simplifies patient admission and recordkeeping. In turn, ADT systems help to inform a patient's care while increasing hospital productivity. Specific benefits of an ADT system are as follows.

Collect More Reliable Information

ADT systems create a workflow upon admission that collects a set of information quickly and efficiently. It then stores all of that patient information in an organized fashion. The way an ADT system is designed helps improve the quality of patient information by ensuring it is always up-to-date while also increasing its reliability by providing context, like notes and historical records, whenever possible.

Improve Patient Care

By collecting and organizing pertinent patient information in one easy-to-use database, an ADT system helps to improve the utilization of patient history and thereby improves the quality and timeliness of patient care. 

If a patient has a history of a specific disease, staff will receive notification of this as soon as they are admitted to a healthcare institution. As a result, they will be able to immediately determine if this disease is relevant to the patient's current concerns and take action accordingly, whether that means isolating the patient or proceeding with specialized care.

ADT Interoperability

Many integrated healthcare organizations will set up an ADT interface between hospitals and large medical systems to notify a patient's care team of admission, discharge, or transfer to a hospital. This allows providers, such as the primary care physician or specialist, outside of the hospital to be well informed about what happened during the patient's visit. It can include the chart notes from the visit, discharge instructions, and a medication list to reconcile. Having this information allows care managers and other members crucial to the patient's health to be well informed about what has happened. This can greatly reduce readmissions and improve the quality of care.

How TempDev Can Help With ADT Systems

TempDev’s team of experienced consultants, developers, and trainers are here to support enhanced accessibility, as well as customized features and templates. This enables you and your patients to have more control over data with improved transparency. 

As part of our streamlining process, we help you implement the Patient Portal, API, and other tools to better support safety, patient engagement, and security. We also help improve interoperability between health systems, including the implementation of best practices with an ADT system exchange with the hospital and software. From dashboards to automation and workflow redesign, TempDev offers the comprehensive resources and tools you need to ensure compliance. 

Contact us here or by calling us at 888.TEMP.DEV to build your next ADT interface with hospitals and other vendors.