Patient Discharge Plan

To reduce penalties by the Federal Government hospitals must develop plans to increase patient education. Patients need discharge planning that is easily understood, with follow up services when needed. Patient education is more than just handing them a list of things they should or shouldn’t do. Education on care takes active participation by the patient, their supporters, the physician and the nursing staff, working together to promote adherence to the discharge plan. Following a Care plan can help keep a patient from returning to the hospital though the Emergency Dept. According to NEHI almost 20 percent of hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries are readmitted within 30 days, over half (13 percent) are potentially avoidable. NEHI (2012)

By implementing patient teaching hospitals are attempting to slow the revolving door that brings patients back within the thirty day time frame of the CMS. The slowing of readmissions will help the hospital avoid the 2015 penalty of 3% of the total government reimbursements for care. Goodman et al. (2013) Patients are started on discharge education with that might that might include strategies from The Journal of Nursing Administration. Nurses use the Teach back system where patients are taught how to do a task, or to take their medications appropriately, they are than asked to teach back to the nurse or health care provider the technique, or skill they learned. (Cloonan et al.

Hospital staff reinforce the learning in multiple ways, to have the patient understand self-care, medication administration along with their support caregivers. Follow up phone calls to clarify any misunderstandings, and checking on the patients self-care also lessens readmissions. .Cloonan et al(2013, pg 385)

While at this time reimbursement for patient readmissions is only penalized by Medicare/Medicaid Government Health Programs. Commercial medical insurance companies frequently follow the government’s steps to cut costs and increase their own profitability. Implementing plans to reduce readmissions by patient education, use of community resources, and collaboration with other healthcare providers will reduce patient readmissions and put hospitals on a positive pathway for better outcomes for the