Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Book

Discharge Planning

In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
.
Affiliations
Free Books & Documents
Book

Discharge Planning

Paula R. Patel et al.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Discharge planning is the process of transitioning a patient from one level of care to the next. Ideally, discharge plans are individualized instructions provided to the patient as they move from the hospital to home or instructions provided to subsequent healthcare providers as they move to a longer-term care facility. In the United States, discharge planning is required for hospital accreditation. The goal of adequate and efficient discharge planning is to improve a patient's quality of life by ensuring continuity of care and reducing the rate of unplanned readmissions and/or complications, which may decrease the healthcare system's financial burden.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Paula Patel declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Samuel Bechmann declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

    1. An D. Cochrane Review Brief: Discharge Planning from Hospital to Home. Online J Issues Nurs. 2015 Mar 12;20(2):13. - PubMed
    1. Hunter T, Nelson JR, Birmingham J. Preventing readmissions through comprehensive discharge planning. Prof Case Manag. 2013 Mar-Apr;18(2):56-63; quiz 64-5. - PubMed
    1. Gonçalves-Bradley DC, Lannin NA, Clemson LM, Cameron ID, Shepperd S. Discharge planning from hospital. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Jan 27;2016(1):CD000313. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gholizadeh M, Janati A, Delgoshaei B, Gorji HA, Tourani S. Implementation Requirements for Patient Discharge Planning in Health System: A qualitative study in Iran. Ethiop J Health Sci. 2018 Mar;28(2):157-168. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nunes HJ, Queirós PJ. Patient with stroke: hospital discharge planning, functionality and quality of life. Rev Bras Enferm. 2017 Apr;70(2):415-423. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources