Are you or a loved one being discharged from a hospital to home? It’s important to be prepared before the discharge. Advance preparation will make life easier for both patient and family, help ensure that the proper home care is received, and prevent readmission to the hospital.
Research shows that about 34% of Medicare recipients are readmitted to the hospital within 90 days of their discharge and more than half (56.1%) within one year. Primary causes for readmissions include lack of preparation for discharge, poor hospital communications with patient and caregivers, and inadequate follow up care.
Medicare has long required hospitals to provide their patients with “discharge planning.” Medicare defines discharge planning as “a process used to decide what a patient needs for a smooth move from one level of care to another.” But the mere existence of a discharge plan does not mean it will be adequately implemented at home by the patient and his/her caregivers.
Home care can be difficult. Family caregivers are often called on to provide complex care that once was provided only by nursing professionals. This can include tasks like managing multiple medications, giving injections and providing wound care. Home caregivers need preparation, training, and ongoing support.
On April 20, 2017 the Pennsylvania Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable Act (CARE Act) takes effect. The CARE Act recognizes the importance of preparing caregivers for home care and providing them with ongoing post-discharge support.
The CARE Act allows hospital in-patients to choose a “lay caregiver” to provide them with post-discharge assistance when the patient returns home. The hospital is required to consult with the lay caregiver regarding the care assistance tasks necessary to maintain the patient’s ability to reside at home. The hospital is also required to provide contact information for a hospital employee who can respond to questions about the discharge plan.
Lay caregivers should receive instructions in all after-care tasks described in the patient’s discharge plan. Training and instructions may be conducted in person or through video technology at the discretion of the lay caregiver. The instructions must include (i) a live or recorded demonstration of the tasks, (ii) an opportunity for the lay caregiver and patient to ask questions, and (iii) answers to those questions.
Take full advantage of the Care Act.
If you are fully competent prior to your time of discharge, you can name your choice of lay caregiver. But what if you are not competent?
If you have a health care power of attorney you should consider including a specific designation of your choice of lay caregiver in it. This could be the person designated as your health care agent, or it could be someone else who you expect to be involved with your hands-on post-discharge care. Your choice will apply in the event that you are not competent to name a “lay caregiver” at the time of a hospital discharge.
If you don’t have a health care power of attorney, get one. It is a vitally important document. (See the recent article by my colleague Elizabeth White: “Health Care Decision Making and the CARE Act”).
Click here to read the Pennsylvania CARE Act.
[This is Part 1 of a planned two part series on preparing for your hospital discharge. Click here for Part 2.]
