A qualitative study evaluating the discharge process for vascular surgery patients to identify significant themes for organizational improvement.

Specific themes were identified to target and enhance the future vRED (vascular Re-Engineered Discharge) bundle. Thematic targets for improvement include increased planning, organization, and communication prior to discharge to address vascular surgery patients' multiple comorbidities, extensive medication lists, and need for complex ancillary services at the time of discharge. Other thematic barriers discovered to improve include provider awareness of patient health literacy, patient understanding of complex discharge instructions, patient technology barriers, and intrinsic social determinants of health in this population. To address these discovered barriers, organizational targets to improve include enhanced social support, the use of advanced nurse practitioners for education reinforcement, and increased coordination. These results provide a framework for future quality improvement targeting the vascular surgery discharge process.