Anticipated outcomes of this project

If implemented effectively, the TDM is expected to:

• Reduce Readmission Rates, Emergency Department Use, Length of Stay, and Hospital Costs
• Hospitals that have implemented the TDM have freed up to 12 million dollars worth of bedspace in one year among approximately 200 patients, based on shorter patient stays (Forchuk et al., 2005)
• At four Ontario psychiatric facilities, patient length of stay was reduced by an average 116 days per patient on wards implementing the TDM (Forchuk et al., 2005)
• TDM intervention groups have been found to consume on average $4,400 less hospital and emergency room services per person in the year after discharge (Forchuk et al., 2005)
• Usual care control groups were more than twice as likely to be readmitted in the 5 months following discharge compared to TDM intervention groups (Reynolds et al., 2004)
• Improve Patient Care
• The TDM improves the quality of patient care by providing ongoing collaborative relationship-based support for psychiatric patients as they recover and transition back into the community
• The TDM offers patients a sense of belonging, enhanced resources and renewed hope as they recover and integrate back into the community
• Increase Communication and Collaboration among Hospital Staff and Community Support Groups
• The TDM allows hospital staff to work in close collaboration with community support groups throughout the discharge process, thus enhancing these crucial relationships

Ultimately, it is our goal to provide your staff and patients with a discharge process that will help patients integrate smoothly and effectively into the community. While it’s true that implementing the TDM will involve an initial learning curve and some procedural changes, the results will be well worth it by reducing patient length of stay and readmission rates.