National Transitions of Care Coalition

The National Transitions of Care Coalition (NTOCC) is made up of over 30 associations and organizations addressing the critical issues surrounding transitions of care from one practice setting to another. Examples of this are: moving a patient within a hospital from the emergency department to various other departments such as surgery or intensive care, or when patients are discharged from the hospital to go home, into an assisted living arrangements or into a skilled nursing facility where care will be received. During these transitions, communication breakdown between well-intentioned professionals and patients and their care partners can lead to dangerous and even life-threatening situations.

NTOCC views transitions of care as a major challenge to health care delivery and realizes it can only be solved by working collaboratively for the good of the patient. NTOCC believes that patients are at the center of care and can play an active role in improving communications and use tools to ensure effective transitions.

In 2006 the NTOCC was founded and began to define solutions addressing gaps that impact safety and quality of care for transitioning patients, particularly seniors. The original work of NTOCC was carried out by an Advisory Task Force – an invited group of leading organizations who coalesced around this issue and discussed ways to create and implement solutions benefiting patients. Today, the coalition is more than 30 agencies and organizations strong, some of which are located in Ithaca.

Visiting Nurse Service is one of the participating agencies supporting the NTOCC's mission at the local level to find solutions and implement strategies that will improve communication and coordination during the transition of care from one organization to another for residents in Tompkins County and beyond. For more information on this initiative visit www.ntocc.org and call Sue Ellen Stuart, Executive Director for Visiting Nurse Service of Ithaca and Tompkins County.