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Delayed or inaccurate communication between hospital-based and primary care physicians at hospital discharge may negatively affect continuity of care and contribute to adverse events.

To characterize the prevalence of deficits in communication and information transfer at hospital discharge and to identify interventions to improve this process.

MEDLINE (through November 2006), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and hand search of article bibliographies.

Observational studies investigating communication and information transfer at hospital discharge (n = 55) and controlled studies evaluating the efficacy of interventions to improve information transfer (n = 18).

Data from observational studies were extracted on the availability, timeliness, content, and format of discharge communications, as well as primary care physician satisfaction. Results of …