A discharge planner aids in the planning, organization, and facilitation of an inpatient’s discharge from a hospital to his home or another location. Most discharge planners are employed by an acute care hospital’s utilization review department, which is in charge of proving to the appropriate insurance carrier the medical necessity for a patient’s continued stay from admission to discharge. In the United States, hospitals are required by law to have a discharge planning department. Depending on the facility, this career requires both medical and social worker skills and has two primary entry points: social work and nursing. To work as a discharge planner, most people need at least a bachelor’s degree in social work or nursing.
The minimum educational requirement for a job as a discharge planner is a bachelor’s degree in social work or nursing. Students interested in this field should plan on spending three to four years to complete his degree requirements. To work as a discharge planner, some hospitals require additional training, such as a master’s degree in social work (MSW). All US states require that a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) complete an MSW, supervised clinical social worker practice hours, and a licensure examination. Working as a discharge planner may necessitate significant time, tuition, study, and clinical experience.
Discharge planners are also employed by some nurses. Working in his facility’s utilization review department and obtaining insurance companies’ approvals of patients’ inpatient stays is usually how a registered nurse (RN) becomes a discharge planner. A review of how things are used Medical case management or RN Because the RN has evaluated the patient daily and communicated this information to the patient’s health insurance carrier, the RN is usually the staff member most familiar with the patient’s conditions and discharge needs. To become a discharge planner through this route, you must first complete nursing school and obtain state licensure in the United States. A year of actual clinical nursing experience, for example, may also be required.
Discharge planning is typically carried out in a fast-paced environment with competing goals among the parties involved. Time limits imposed by insurance companies may put significant pressure on hospitals to discharge patients within the reimbursement period. The physician may believe that the insurance-covered treatment time is insufficient, and that the patient is not medically ready to be discharged. Families and patients frequently require the reassurance of home health care from the day of discharge. For all of these reasons, anyone wishing to work as a discharge planner must have excellent communication skills and a keen attention to detail.