Coming home from the hospital?

Discharge often comes faster than families expect. This checklist helps you arrange the most important things before you leave, and the first days at home.

Will you need Medicaid home care after the hospital? Ask the discharge planner for an LTSS screening before you leave. The hospital does the screening, and it has to be finished before discharge.

Before you leave the hospital

• Ask the discharge planner which care is ordered for home: nursing, therapy, equipment.
• Ask for the LTSS screening if you will need personal care through Medicaid.
• Get the discharge papers: medication list, follow-up appointments, warning signs, who to call.
• Ask which medications are new, stopped or changed.
• Ask about equipment, such as a walker, shower chair or hospital bed. Who orders it, and when does it arrive?
• Decide who stays with your family member the first nights at home.
• Pick up the prescriptions on the way home, or arrange delivery.

The first days at home

• Remove loose rugs and cords on the way to the bathroom, and add night lights.
• Put everyday things within reach.
• Keep the medication list and important phone numbers on the fridge.
• Book the follow-up appointments from the discharge papers.
• Watch for the warning signs in the discharge papers. Call the doctor, or 911 in an emergency.

How we can help

• Paying privately: care can often start within 72 hours.
• Through Medicaid: care starts after the screening and your health plan's approval. We tell you honestly what we can arrange, and when.
• Call us with the discharge date: 703-370-4002, answered 24 hours a day.

Sources: Code of Virginia 32.1-330 and DMAS information for hospitals.