Hospitals Required to Send Admit, Discharge, Transfer Notices to Physicians

A hospital information-sharing requirement can help physicians improve care transitions and data exchange with local facilities. 

Since May 2021, hospitals must electronically share their admit, discharge, and/or transfer (ADT) notices with the patient’s established primary care physician, group, or other practitioner identified by the patient. The requirement, a condition of Medicare participation, applies to all patients who receive emergency department (ED) or inpatient services, including at psychiatric hospitals. 

Additionally, physicians are required to update their digital contact information in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System so hospitals have the information they need to electronically send the ADT notices. Your digital contact should not be a standard email address but rather a HIPAA-compliant address that may be distributed by your electronic health record vendor.

This requirement is intended to improve care coordination by alerting you when your patient shows up at the emergency department and allows you to appropriately follow-up with your patient upon discharge from the hospital. At a minimum, the notification must include the name of the patient, treating practitioner, and sending institution. 

For example, there may be instances of multiple admission notifications for one patient, including: 

• If a patient who enters through the emergency department is not admitted to receive inpatient services, the hospital must send a notification of the patient’s ED visit;
• Once a patient is admitted and is receiving inpatient services, another notification must be sent as the patient’s admission status changes;
• If a patient transferred to another facility, the physician receives a notice of transfer; and
• A physician would receive notice once a patient is discharged, whether from inpatient or outpatient admissions. 

The facility can send notices either directly to the physician or via an intermediary such as a health information exchange (HIE). Hospitals should not charge physicians a fee to receive ADT notifications. 

If you have questions about ADT notifications or other office technologies, contact the TMA Knowledge Center by calling (800)880-7955 or emailing knowledge@texmed.org.