Falling on Deaf Ears

At a recent Patient Safety Meeting, I received a report on the progress that we are making with reducing our readmissions.  The good news is that we have been successful.  However, I was amazed to hear about the many patients who are discharged but have no idea as to what their discharge instructions state.  Many of these patients are just anxious to get home.  Fortunately, our Carelink Coordinators are assisting newly discharged patients during their follow up calls to the patients.   Nevertheless, we need to do a better job of informing patients of what they have to do once they are home to avoid needless trips back to the hospital and potential readmissions.