Physician Views on the Resident Assessment Instrument for Home Care Information Exchange

Use of a system-wide standardized clinical assessment to facilitate information-sharing is an essential component of an integrated healthcare system. 1 The Resident Assessment Instrument for Home Care (interRAI-HC) is a standardized clinical assessment and decision support instrument used to assess complex and vulnerable clients in home care. 2 It provides reliable and valid screeners, risk stratification algorithms, outcome measures, and clinical recommendations for common and important conditions. 2 Use of the interRAI-HC results in positive outcomes, such as improved care planning, greater collaboration among providers, lower hospitalization rates, and reduced client morbidity. 3 Thus, the interRAI-HC can be used by primary care physicians to support clinical decision making, reduce duplicate testing, and improve quality of healthcare delivery overall. 2 , 4 , 5 Less understood is how information from the interRAI-HC can be presented to support primary care practices. This report aims to explore physician views on the interRAI-HC as an information sharing tool.