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Choosing a nursing home for your loved one after they are discharged from the hospital is a very big decision. Making the wrong choice can bring serious consequences, such as declining health, loss of independence, and heavy financial costs.

Planning in advance before your loved on is discharged by the hospital will give you the time to calmly sort out all options.

These recommendations come from the United Hospital Fund (UHF) that just released a pamphlet called “Pathways to Progress on Difficult Decisions in Post-Acute Care” . In this pamphlet, the fund outlines their recommendations on how families can improve post-acute care transitions for their loved on.

A lot is at stake and on the line in decisions about post-acute care, and the wrong choice can have devastating consequences.  So says Lynn Rogut, director of quality measurement and care transformation at the UHF’s Quality Institute. making the right choice that fits the needs of the patient can get done, she says.

Nursing Home: How Do You You Decide Which One?

The United Hospital Fund report outlines a comprehensive six point plan. Those six steps in the 25-page report include:

(1) engaging patients and families in discharge planning for post-acute care;

(2) improving the planning process before departing from a hospital;

(3) bridging silos to allow for more informed decision-making;

(4) addressing regulatory and payment policy barriers to planning for PAC;

(5) enhancing transparency and public information for the public; and

(6) increasing awareness about nursing homes and other post-acute providers.

The UHF conclusions and recommendations are based on a year-long study of post-hospital care. Their report included interviews with patients, policymakers, and staffers at both nursing homes and hospitals. Two previous installments were released in January.

United Hospital Fund experts note that about 20 per cent of United States hospital patients require care after they’re discharged.