The post, When Plans Go Wrong, shows why it’s important to learn how to use the health care system and be an advocate for yourself to safeguard your health.  (For your convenience you can find a copy of it under Cases To Consider.)  This post is all about Discharge Plans.

A word about Discharge Plans:  Transitions from one health care setting to another are always risky.  Whether it’s going into the hospital from home from the hospital back to home, mistakes in communication are more likely to happen.  To try to prevent these miscommunications from happening in the transition from hospital to home the attending physician, the doctor who cared for the patient in the hospital, gives the patient a Discharge Plan.  It is a written plan that tells the patient what medicines to take, what diet to eat, any limitations of activity, what tests they need to get and where they are to get them, any physical therapy they may need and from whom they should get it, any referrals to specialists they need to have, and finally, when the attending doctor wants to see the patient in their office.

When Plans Go Wrong outlines several issues that went wrong with the implementation of Susan’s discharge plan:

1. Susan couldn’t get the medicine that worked for her in the hospital
2. Home health nurse & home physical therapy visits weren’t happening
3. Her physician hasn’t called back
4. She is unable to get to her doctor visit

On the next posts I’ll talk about each of these issues from my perspective as a physician and patient. 

For Your Health – Dr. Bob