How to Get ST Paperwork from the Hospital

A very common problem in the SNF: you get a skilled admit, and they get admitted with orders for a modified diet and one SLP note from last week. Or maybe no SLP notes. So what do we do?

It is very important for continuity of care that we try our best to get the most information we can. We don’t want to say “oh well!” and start back from square one.

The first thing to do is make friends with whoever does the admissions at your building. This person will have access to an online portal where they can view tons of hospital paperwork for each patient. Typically it is this person’s job to download what is relevant and upload it to the chart in the SNF. Unfortunately a general lack in understanding the role of an SLP can lead to no or very few notes being downloaded. Go to this person’s office and introduce yourself. Explain who you are, what paperwork you are looking for, and why it is important. Ask them to look through the portal for more recent speech therapy notes, and any MBS or FEES reports. If you are lucky, they will start to do this for you routinely, and you will have to ask less often! The lack of paperwork is not intentional, but comes from a lack of understanding of its importance.

You can also check the paper chart for additional notes, as sometimes hospitals send a lot of printed paperwork with the patient. It just depends on the hospital.

Next, you can also ask the patient themselves (or their family members) about what they remember from speech therapy at the hospital. Did they have a swallow study? This is really patient dependent, as some people will be able to tell you nothing, while others may surprise you and say their “flippy flap” (epiglottis) doesn’t work and they have liquids going into their airway.

Finally, you can always call the hospital SLP. Call and ask to speak to the inpatient rehab department. It’s very likely you will have to leave a voicemail or message with another staff member (how often are we near a phone ourselves in the SNF?!) Leave a message with the patient name and what information you are looking for, and the SLP should call you back. Sometimes hospital SLPs have work cell phones and you may be able to get a direct phone number from them for next time.