Role, importance, and impact of effective hospital discharge planning
Effective planning in discharge is of importance to the care continuity. The literature review below gives the roles, importance and the impact of effective planning of discharge in the healthcare facilities. Even though in many health facilities, the principles used in the discharging of the patients have not changed over a long period, the pace and the process of the discharge planning has over the time changed.
Effective discharge planning considers that the patients discharge date should be estimated within the 48 hours of the patient’s admission, this should be done by the health practitioners as soon as possible so as provide a ground for the process of discharge planning. The date of the discharge can then be adjusted by the doctors depending on how the patient is progressing on the management plan for the clinic or the health facility (Webber-Maybank & Luton, 2009). The importance of this effective planning in discharge is to help the facility in predicting its overall capacity.
This effective discharge planning is also of importance since it can be used by the management and the health personnel to assess the overall progress and the outcome of the clinical plans (Wagstaff, 2010). This can also be of importance to the individual since for any patient admitted to the health facility will need effective planning in discharge to understand the expectations, control and what the medical personnel needs from most of them in the process of discharge and planning process (Lees and Holmes, 2005).
The process of discharge planning can be a very tedious activity, this is in particular to some of the new services that are offered from outside the health facility, for instance, the intermediate care, having population that is majorly consists of the older people who are usually in the need of more complex concerns and care needs. However, the process of effective planning in the discharge of the patients is to ensure that there is a timely discharge of some patients and the continuity of the care given to the incoming patients and the patients within the hospital (Ou, 2011). It is also very useful to the health department since it ensures that there is an adequate and efficient use of the limited resources that is available within the health facility. This can be of importance in the long run since it will ensure that unnecessary readmissions are avoided.
The process of patient discharge is believed to be having four phases; the first phase is the assessment of the patient. This is to ensure that the progress of the patient is monitored to ensure that an appropriate date can be approximated for the discharge. The second phase is the development of discharge plan by the health practitioners; this is of importance since it can help the health facility in estimating the amount of the resources that is required by the hospital to attend to the patient before discharge. The third phase in the effective discharge planning process it the service provision which includes the family and the patient education and also the service referral.
This is of importance since it ensures that the family members and the patient are aware of the activities that should follow after the discharge. The last phase of effective discharge is the evaluation and follows up; this is to ensure that the patient’s health progress is monitored after the discharge. “In general, discharge planning is conceptualized as having four phases: patient assessment; development of a discharge plan; provision of service, including patient/family education and service referral; and follow-up/evaluation”, (Yam et al. 2012)
References
Yam, C. H. K., Wong, E. L. Y., Cheung, A. W. L., Chan, F. W. K., Wong, F. Y. Y., & Yeoh, E. (2012). Framework and components for effective discharge planning system: A delphi methodology. BMC Health Services Research, 12, 396. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-12-396
Ou, Lixin,M.B.A., M.P.H., Chen, Jack, MBBS,PhD., M.B.A., Young, Lis,F.A.F.P.H.M., R.C.A.P., Santiano, Nancy, RN, CCCert,P.G.DipEd, MclinNsg, Baramy, La-Stacey, RN, BSN,CertEmg, M.B.A., & Hillman, Ken, MBBS, FRCA,F.J.F.I.C.M., M.D. (2011). Effective discharge planning - timely assignment of an estimated date of discharge. Australian Health Review, 35(3), 357-63
Wagstaff, N., Butler, J., Kalanovic, S., & Shepley, M. (2010). HIGH IMPACT ACTIONS: DISCHARGE PLANNING. Nursing Management, 17(3), 12-6
Webber-Maybank M, Luton H (2009) Making effective use of predictive discharge dates to reduce length of stay in hospital. Nursing Times; 105: 15, 12-13.
Lees L, Holmes K (2005) Estimating a date of discharge at ward level: a pilot study. Nursing Standard; 19: 17, 40-43.
