CHA News

California Health Care Foundation Publishes Playbook for Complex Discharges

What’s happening: The California Health Care Foundation’s new playbook shares actionable recommendations to help leadership and frontline staff effectively coordinate, collaborate, and partner on managing the discharge of patients who remain in hospitals for extended stays.   

What else to know: Using four vignettes of fictional patients with complex needs who are awaiting discharge, the playbook demonstrates how Medi-Cal benefits and services can be used to “facilitate a person-centered discharge.”  

The playbook’s goal is to educate about and increase awareness of community-based services — such as enhanced care management and community supports — to assist transitioning patients to the least restrictive settings. The playbook also aims to improve patient outcomes and encourage local and/or regional planning to address gaps in capacity for certain care levels in the community. Representatives from several CHA member facilities contributed to this playbook’s development.