It's no secret, but re-admissions are one of the single most costly problems a hospital can run into, and much of the time, they're preventable!
The discharge process is absolutely vital in preventing needless re-admissions. The more comfortable a patient is with the road ahead, and the more detail they have on their treatment, the more likely they are to have a successful recovery.
While a face to face conversation between the discharge coordinator and the patient is a crucial part of an effective discharge it often isn't enough for numerous reasons such as.
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Patients will be eager to go home, and may not be listening.
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The entire hospitalization process is stressful and disorienting to patients, both enemies of learning.
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Post-op patients may still be muddled from painkillers and unable to learn effectively.
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The on-hand materials are often incomplete, or written in medical jargon a layman can't easily understand.
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Longer-term recoveries may involve too much information for any patient to absorb in one sitting.
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Nurses facing too many duties may not have time for thorough briefings.
A well-constructed discharge folder can alleviate all these issues! While a face-to-face briefing is critical, supplementing it with a comprehensive discharge folder that includes each patient's specific instructions and information greatly decreases the chance a patient will be readmitted because they didn't understand or follow their discharge plan.
Important Elements To Include In Your Patient Discharge Folders
1 - Sorted and Ordered Post-Care Information
Most important, of course, are the materials a patient needs for a successful recovery, from physical activity to dietary restrictions. Since custom-built folders can hold plenty of tabs, these can be clearly laid out according to topic for easy access.
As an alternative for patients on an extended road for recovery, sort it by time instead. Breaking down the materials month-by-month keeps people on track, as well as giving them a clear way of seeing the progress of their recovery.
That, alone, can help keep up morale during an extended convalescence.
2 - Warnings or Frequently Asked Questions
Since there's plenty of room for text, try including common medical information on the folder itself that would be common to your patients. A facility specializing in cardio, for example, could put together lists of heart-healthy foods for their patients.
If you turn your folder itself into a resource for information, that greatly increases the odds of
patients keeping it around.
3 - Maps and Contact Info
The inside flap is a great place to put a map to your facility(s), phone numbers, emails, or even information for partners in your circle of referrals. This can be helpful in boosting relations with your partners, or outright essential if a patient needs care from several different practices during their recovery.
Putting all this information in one place gives people more reason to use your folders as a reference, as well as being portable enough to be used for driving directions, if needed.
4 - Medication information
One of the most common causes of re-admission is patients failure to take the right medications at the right time. Since some patients have numerous medications often to be taken on different schedules a detailed medication plan can go a long way to reducing needless re-admissions and saving hospitals the enormous those re-admissions can generate.
Create Better Patient Outcomes With Better Discharge Folders
The bottom line is this: The more information you send home with your patients, the more likely they are to recover without unnecessary complications. Putting together personalized discharge folders built with patient education in mind can vastly reduce re-admissions, reducing hospital costs, while making for happier and healthier patients.
Want to learn more? Click the button below to download our free eBook on how discharge folders can save hospitals money and increase HCAHPS scores.
