Before your parent leaves the hospital

Before your parent leaves, ask the care team

• Who do we call with questions once we're home, day and night? Write down the name and number.
• Which problems should we watch for at home, and what do we do if we see one?
• Which medicines continue, which stop, and which are new or changed? Bring the full list from home, with vitamins and supplements.
• Where will your parent get care after this: at home, with home health care, or at a rehab facility? What are the options?
• Will they need equipment, such as a walker? Who orders it, and does their insurance cover it?
• Can they manage bathing, dressing, stairs, cooking and getting to appointments? Which will they need help with?
• Can you show me any task I'll need to do, such as changing a bandage, and let me practice it here?
• What will their insurance cover, and what will we have to pay?

On the day they leave, get on paper

• Written discharge instructions you can read and understand.
• A summary of the stay and of their health now.
• The updated medicine list.
• Their follow-up visits: who, when, and who books them.
• Any test results that aren't back yet, and who will tell you.

Before you drive home

• Pick up new prescriptions and do errands first, so you don't have to leave your parent alone on the first day.
• If your parent has Medicare and you think they are leaving too soon, ask for the notice called “Important Message from Medicare”. It explains how to ask for a fast appeal.

At home

• Keep every page together. Bring them and the medicine list to the follow-up visit.
• Take a photo of each page, so the papers are never lost.

Also for the first weeks home

A one-page health sheet for every doctor visit, and how to get copies of a parent’s records from the hospital.