Date of Conferral

11-21-2025

Date of Award

November 2025

Degree

Doctor of Healthcare Administration (D.H.A.)

School

Health Services

Advisor

Sally Willis

Abstract

The variability within interhospital transfers represents challenges for hospitals to maintain a standardized level of care for patients. This integrative review explored evidence-based healthcare interhospital transfer practices to improve outcomes and efficiency of care for patients. Under the framework of the Donabedian model of health quality, the study examined 28 empirical and nonempirical articles published from 2021–2025 for best practices to provide improvement measures towards care for transfer patients and increase support for healthcare personnel. These articles were analyzed for quality using the Johns Hopkins evidence-based practice model. Through analysis, seven themes were identified: improving interhospital communication, improving time-based care, increasing positive health outcomes, prioritizing resource utilization, improving transfer decision making, improving management of care expectations, and standardizing transfer protocols. Subthemes identified include prioritizing criteria for verbal/written communication, improving readmittance rates, improving 30-day outcomes, improving patient/bed management, dynamic scheduling, enhancing patient eligibility criteria, optimizing organization of transfer care plans, and prioritizing transfer safety guidelines. Recommendations for professional practice are offered with a foundation in evidence-based interventions for improvements in interhospital transfers. Through these recommendations, interventions may lead to positive social changes like earlier access to clinical information, improving resource utilization rates, lowering risks of in-hospital mortality and complications, and improving operational efficiency.

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