Admission and discharge from any hospital can be stressful, intimidating and sometimes life altering. Many decisions must be made when you or your loved one is ready to come home. Case managers are in place within the healthcare system to assist families and their loved ones with discharge planning and can answer questions about the discharge process while the patient is still in the hospital.
Discharge planning is a part of hospital, inpatient rehabilitation centers, skilled nursing and long term care facilities. So what exactly is it? Medicare defines discharge planning as a process used to decide what a patient needs for a smooth transition from one level of care to another. How transition is handled is critical to the health and well being of the patient. Ideally the process of learning how to transition home should begin at admittance to the hospital and should involve the patient, family and healthcare providers.
