Meet the challenge of discharging patients with no way to pay.
Case managers and social workers have to look for creative solutions as hospitals struggle with finding a safe discharge for uninsured, undocumented, and homeless patients. It's often more cost-effective for hospitals to pay for post-discharge care rather than keeping unfunded patients as inpatients after they no longer meet acute care criteria. Undocumented patients sometimes want to go back to their home country for post-discharge care, but many have families in this country who are willing to care for them. Some homeless patients have families who are looking for them, but some have been on the street for many years and want to be discharged to the only living situation they know.
D019090:Case Management; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008489:Medical Indigency; D010351:Patient Discharge; D014481:United States