You Make the Call - Healthcare's Mandate for Post-Discharge Follow Up

Book excerpt: Every day, thousands of people are discharged from hospitals. While relieved to be going home, they are often frightened and insecure about caring for themselves at home. How the hospital manages follow up can make a world of difference in spotting adverse reactions, quelling fears, and providing appropriate direction. Adverse conditions can lead to costly readmissions that hurt the bottom line and dissatisfied consumers who can hurt the hospital's reputation. You Make the Call presents a solid case for a post-discharge call system to improve clinical outcomes and improve the patient experience. This book provides the rationale and key steps for launching a post-discharge follow-up call process. Kristin Baird offers case examples, models, and tools to help you evaluate the need for follow-up calls as well as tools for integrating them into a comprehensive care plan. An award-winning author and consultant, Baird's expertise stems from over 30 years as a nurse, executive, and consultant. Her passion for the patient experience has set her career path and is a driving force behind this book. Are you doing post-discharge follow up? Does it make sense for your organization? Should you devote resources to post-discharge calls? Read Baird's book and then you make the call.