After a hospital stay, it’s comforting to be able to return home. However, without taking the proper precautions, patients often need to return to the hospital. Recent studies indicate hospital readmissions for Medicare beneficiaries in particular, occur frequently. Transitional care management can help make readmission less likely and improve chances of a total recovery.
6 Benefits of Effective Transitional Care Management
When a patient returns home with proper transitional care management, they reduce the likelihood of needing to return to hospital care. There are six actions that improve the patient’s chances of a safe transition from hospital to home care.
- Timely scheduling of follow-up appointments with their primary health care provider.
- Discussions with their pharmacist or health care provider about how medications are to be taken.
- Discover whether the hospital or home health makes home visits or schedules follow-up calls.
- Learn about additional services provided by the hospital, such as Meals on Wheels or transportation to follow-up appointments.
- Education and support for primary caregivers in the home and conversations about the specifics of the patient’s care needs.
- Making sure the patient understands their discharge instructions and care needs.
When these six areas are covered by effective transitional care management professionals, patients are less likely to need return visits to the hospital and their level of overall care is improved.
Ready to learn more about transitional care management? Visit the Sequence Health website today to speak with a professional about patient care.
