TY  - JOUR
AU  - Mess, Elisabeth Veronica
AU  - Regner, Matthias
AU  - Balic, Sabahudin
AU  - Kleybolte, Lukas
AU  - Daufratshofer, Lisa
AU  - Mahler, Andreas
AU  - Tilmes, Sabrina
AU  - Werlitz, Viktor
AU  - Reuter, Claudia
AU  - Teynor, Alexandra
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/2/21
TI  - Detailed Analysis and Road Map Proposal for Care Transition Records and Their Transmission Process: Mixed Methods Study
JO  - JMIR Nursing
SP  - e60810
VL  - 8
KW  - care transition record
KW  - transmission management
KW  - observations
KW  - process modeling
KW  - telematics infrastructure
KW  - TI
KW  - Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources
KW  - FHIR
KW  - Health Level 7
KW  - HL7
KW  - medical information object
KW  - MIO
KW  - care information object care transition record
KW  - CIO-CTR
KW  - Pflegerisches Informationsobjekt-Überleitungsbogen
KW  - PIO-ULB
KW  - artificial intelligence
KW  - AI
AB  - Background: The digitalization of health care in Germany holds great potential to improve patient care, resource management, and efficiency. However, strict data protection regulations, fragmented infrastructures, and resistance to change hinder progress. These challenges leave care institutions reliant on outdated paper-based workflows, particularly for patient data transmission, despite the pressing need for efficient tools to support health care professionals amid a nursing shortage and rising demand for care. Objective: This paper aims to analyze Germany’s care transition record (CTR) and CTR transmission process as part of transition management and suggests improvements toward a seamless digital solution. Methods: To understand the current challenges of manual CTR transfers, we used a mixed methods approach, which included a web-based questionnaire with nursing professionals, field observations, business process model and notation modeling, semantic and frequency analysis of CTR entries, and user story mapping. Results: A web-based questionnaire involving German nursing professionals (N=59) revealed considerable delays in patient care due to manual, patient-transferred CTRs. Of the 33 usable responses (n=33), 70% (n=23) of the respondents advocating for digital transmission to improve efficiency. Observations (N=11) in care facilities (n=5, 45%) and a hospital (n=6, 55%) confirmed the high administrative burden, averaging 34.67 (SD 10.78) minutes per CTR within a hospital and 44.6 (SD 20.5) minutes in care facilities. A semantic analysis of various CTRs (N=4) highlighted their differences and complexity, stressing the need for standardization. Analyzing a new CTR standard (care information object CTR) and manually mapping an existing CTR to it showed that the procedure was ambiguous, and some associations remained unclear. A frequency analysis of CTR entities revealed which were most used. In addition, discussions with care staff pointed out candidates for the most relevant entities. On the basis of the key findings, a stepwise transition approach toward a road map proposal for a standardized, secure transfer of CTRs was conceptualized. This road map in the form of a user story map, encompassing a “CTR transformer” (mapping of traditional CTRs to a new standard) and “care information object CTR viewer/editor” (in short, CIO-CTR viewer and editor; a new standard for viewing, editing, and exporting), shows a possibility to bridge the transition time until all institutions fully support the new standard. Conclusions: A future solution should simplify the overall CTR transmission process by minimizing manual transfers into in-house systems, standardizing the CTR, and providing a secure digital transfer. This could positively impact the overall care process and patient experience. With our solutions, we attempt to support care staff in their daily activities and processes until nationwide state regulations are implemented successfully, though the timeline for this remains uncertain. 
SN  - 2562-7600
UR  - https://nursing.jmir.org/2025/1/e60810
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/60810
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/39982779
DO  - 10.2196/60810
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/60810
ER  -