Hospital discharge can be one of the most vulnerable moments in a patient’s care journey.

Patients are often overwhelmed, exhausted, in pain, anxious, or processing a large amount of information in a short period of time. Even with excellent education from the care team, important details can be forgotten or misunderstood once the patient gets home.

That’s where caregivers matter — tremendously.

Digital patient engagement solutions have many benefits — prompting 78% of leaders nationwide to invest in them. They can be convenient ways to automate, stay in touch, send reminders, and give patients a direct line to their care teams. 

Discharge is a critical time for teaching. Care teams finalize plans, send prescriptions and referrals, and make follow-up appointments as the patient and their family prepare to transition out of the hospital. 

Transitioning from the hospital back to home is a precarious time for most patients. As hospital case managers know, patients can struggle to understand how to care for their numerous, complex medical conditions. This struggle frequently results in increased readmissions and poor patient outcomes.

Hospital patients have a lot to remember when they leave the hospital, like self-care instructions, follow-up appointments, and medication changes. Remembering things like this is tough for healthy people, but trying to remember it all when you’re sick or in pain makes understanding a care plan much more difficult.

Patients typically get very excited when they hear “discharge.” Discharge means they are going home, but it also means patients will be caring for themselves once they get home. If patients don’t understand their care plan, or aren’t engaged in their plan, their chances of readmission after discharge increase.

The HCAHPS survey measures the patient experience over a wide range of domains, from environmental cleanliness to staff responsiveness. Communication is another theme across many domains, and for good reason: Without clear communication, patients cannot be engaged members of the care team.