A new Transition Success Score has been developed to evaluate patient outcomes during the critical move from pediatric to adult rheumatology care. This metric aims to fill a gap in assessing the effectiveness of structured transition programs.
The score comprises four key components, each contributing equally to the total: attending the first adult rheumatology appointment promptly, refilling medications with the adult provider within three months, avoiding rheumatology-related emergency department visits in the first year post-transition, and attending a second adult appointment.
Analysis of 357 patients between 2017 and 2024 revealed that only 36% achieved optimal transition success by meeting all four components. Another 39% met 75% of the criteria. Component performance varied, with 83% of patients avoiding emergency visits and 76% successfully refilling medications. However, attendance at a second adult appointment was documented for only 80%, and documentation for this was missing for 20% of patients.
Researchers identified a need to strengthen transition programs, particularly regarding follow-up appointments. They suggest combining the Transition Success Score with patient-reported readiness and transition summary letters to better predict successful transfers to adult care.