Discharge day should be the light at the end of the tunnel—for patients, families, and care teams. But in many hospitals, this final step drags on longer than it should. And more often than not, the culprit is a process that hasn't changed in decades: the fax machine....

Hospital readmission reduction programs reflect the quality of patient care, efficiency of discharge planning, and long-term health outcomes. Many hospitals invest significant resources into their hospital readmissions reduction program yet still struggle with high...