Transition Of Care Essay

Many barriers to transition of care has led to failures and challenges during the discharge process of elderly patients. Transition of care can fail at many different levels between the preparation for discharge to when the patient has returned home. It is important to note that transition of care is a complex process that requires several key components for a successful transition. Failure of transition of care does not occur just at one point in the care, but generally at multiple points of the care. Multiple issues contribute to ineffective care transitions, including poor communication between inpatient and outpatient clinicians; medication changes during hospitalizations; inadequate patient understanding of diagnoses, medications, and follow-up needs; …show more content…
Unsuccessful transitions of care may be life threatening to the elderly population. In addition, patients admitted into hospitals may develop a dependence upon the hospital services that addressed their needs; however, upon discharge to home, patients and caregiver and expected to assume a self-management role with little support or preparation. At home, caregivers may not be able to provide the proper care necessary to ensure a safe transition.3 This can lead to negative impacts on the patient without support system to help with their transition.
The current health care system does not provide the important elements to effective transitions of care. Instead, it has produced challenges for patients and health care providers. One challenge is that many practitioners are deemed as “silos” of care, where there is limited