Discharge Planning Coordination

When you or a loved one has been hospitalized, it can become a very stressful experience for all concerned. As a family member, you are focused on making sure that your family member gets the best possible medical treatment and that all hospital staff members are communicating and coordinating care in the hospital.

But the day will come when you or your family member will be scheduled to be discharged by the hospital back home. Of course, you want to go home and planning for that can seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be.

Right at Home of Central New Jersey can help you or your family member transition and live safely once you’re back at home after a hospital stay. Discharge Planning Coordination starts when you are still a patient at the hospital and involves coordinating many different disciplines and tasks to help you return to home to begin your recovery safely.

Here is how Right at Home of Central New Jersey can help to coordinate all the pieces of your discharge. We pride ourselves on having a “big picture” view and communicating with you, your family and your discharge planning team to get all pertinent information for when you are ready to come home. We are always involved with the hospital and rehabilitation center discharge planning teams to ensure your discharge is handled professionally and with care, including working with the discharge planning team at the hospital or rehab which will include:

• Social workers
• Physical therapists
• Doctors and nurses
• Your family members
• And you!

We are often invited to the discharge planning meeting either in person or now-a-days virtually.

We also work and coordinate along with the hospital and rehab facilities with outside entities such as the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) and, if required, hospice care providers to ensure a coordinated and individualized plan of care for you or your family member.

Our discharge planning coordination team can and will arrange for any of the following items that you or your family member may need:

• Helping to arrange a follow-up visit with your doctor once you return home to make sure that all your care needs are addressed, questions are answered, and medications prescribed are reviewed.
• Working with our partners we can make sure any medical equipment that might be needed (transport chair, ramps, bed rails, etc.) are delivered to your home before you return.
• Making sure that your refrigerator is stocked – no matter what your dietary needs – by doing your grocery shopping before you arrive at home.
• Creating an Amazon list for items you may need in the home to get you back safely. For example, our discharge planning coordination team can order linens, incontinence supplies, cleaning supplies, personal care supplies, etc. and have them delivered before you return home and then provide you with an invoice for what was delivered.
• Nutritional counseling for a newly diagnosed disease or for making better and healthier food choices.
• Our very own Right Chef for Seniors meal program is very helpful if you are given special dietary restrictions (for example, a low-sodium diet or a diet focused on the needs of diabetics) and would like meals prepared for you.
• Making your home handicap-accessible by working with our partner to install needed home modifications such as ramps, stair lifts, grab bars, etc.
• Arranging to have your prescriptions filled and delivered to your home along with any needed supplies carried by the pharmacy.
• Providing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) needed for you (and your family) as you return home.
• Arranging for transportation home from the hospital by having one of our caregivers pick you up or arranging for medical transport or an ambulette service.

Our discharge planning coordination team will be with you every step of the way and are always available to you 24/7. We all have parents or siblings or spouses whom we love, and our primary belief is always that we understand that, when you place your trust in us, we are helping provide a safe and seamless transition back home for someone’s Mom, Dad, grandparent or spouse. We know that it’s a documented fact that having a successful transition home is vital to the health and well-being and recovery of your loved one and minimizes the chance of you or a family member having to be readmitted to the hospital.

Treating our clients the way we would want others to treat our own parents is the best business practice. We are confident that our belief system, ethics, compassion, care, reliability, protocols, and dedicated and caring discharge planning coordination team (as well as our caregivers, nurses, and office staff) will continue to distinguish Right at Home of Central New Jersey from other home care companies.

If we can help you or your hospitalized family member at any time or if you have any questions or need advice or assistance, please contact us at 732-967-0900 or beth@rahcentral.com. We are available 24/7 to assist you in any way we can.