* Post-acute healthcare facilities are not required by law to accept patient transfers from a hospital who are undocumented immigrants or are unable to pay for care. In some cases, undocumented immigrant patients have supportive family members, but others have few or no relatives and friends in the United States. Case managers should be resourceful when planning for discharge of undocumented immigrant patients who have little or no local support; knowledge of and connections with community charity services can be beneficial(4)
* Collaboration with clinicians (often referred to as home care liaisons) who will be involved in the provision of in-home care is an important responsibility of casemanagers during patient discharge. Pitfalls in communication, role ambiguity, poor delineation of responsibilities, and varying styles of practice lead to negative consequences for discharged patients and their families. Suggestions for collaboration and care coordination include the following:(10)
* Familiarization with the practices and backgrounds of the home care liaison and case manager
* Clear definition of roles, responsibilities, and expectations
* Designating time and appropriate forums for continuous communication and follow-up between home care liaisons and case managers
* Educating home care liaisons regarding responsibilities in the discharge planning process that are shared with the case manager, but emphasizing that the casemanager has primary accountability for the effectiveness of the discharge plan What We Can Do
* Become knowledgeable about case management pertaining to discharge planning so you can accurately assess your patients’ personal characteristics and health education needs; share this information with your colleagues
* Promote effective communication among healthcare clinicians, home care liaisons, patients, and family members/caregivers for optimal discharge planning
* Enhance the discharge process by tracking measurable data and verify the patient is stable for discharge