title: Compliance issues create extra work for hospital discharge planners.
abstract: Since the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 took effect, many discharge planners and other hospital staff have become bogged down with added paperwork and fat documents full of new and often cumbersome regulations to follow. One such regulation dramatically affecting discharge planning is patient freedom of choice. Basically, the rule requires that hospital discharge planners provide Medicare patients needing home health care with a list of certified facilities, so patients can choose their own postacute care rather than automatically being sent to a facility owned by the hospital.
mesh_terms: D000359:Aftercare; D000368:Aged; D019090:Case Management / Q000592:standards; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D018574:Home Care Agencies; D006801:Humans; D006278:Medicare / Q000592:standards; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000592:standards*; D010358:Patient Participation; D012948:Social Work Department, Hospital; D014481:United States