Saud Anwar

SEN. ANWAR LEADS SENATE PASSAGE TO IMPROVE DISCHARGE STANDARDS FOR PATIENTS RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL CARE

Today, State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor), Senate Chair of the Public Health Committee, led the Senate in the approval of legislation that will improve hospital and nursing home discharge planning services in Connecticut. The legislation will update discharge planning services, requiring plans to include the date and location of each follow-up medical appointment scheduled before a patient’s discharge and a list of all medications the patient is currently taking and will take after discharge.

“When a patient is discharged from the hospital, they are in a precarious state, and if they do not recover properly, their health could be threatened and they could be rehospitalized. This bill is trying to make sure that happens less often,” said Sen. Anwar. “By providing patients with more information upon their discharge and by ensuring their medical appointments and prescriptions are effectively released, we can take strong steps forward to improve care and patient health.”

Senate Bill 956, “An Act Requiring Discharge Standards Regarding Follow-Up Appointments and Prescription Medications For Patients Being Discharged From A Hospital Or Nursing Home Facility,” will require discharge service standards to require written information regarding the date and location of follow-up medical appointments scheduled before a patient’s discharge and a list of all medications a patient is taking and will take after discharge. Those discharge plans are already required to be written in consultation with a patient or their family or representative and their physician and a procedure to give a patient notice of that discharge plan before discharge.

Additionally, when a hospital or nursing home discharges a patient, the bill requires the facility to send information on each prescription ordered for a patient before discharge to a patient’s pharmacy. This will provide pharmacists with more accurate information in filling prescriptions, including in filling patient pill boxes, to improve the safety of a discharged patient.

According to the Patient Safety Network, studies have shown that nearly 20% of hospital patients discharged from the hospital experience adverse events within three weeks of discharge and nearly 75% of those events could have been prevented or ameliorated. Adverse drug events are the most common discharge complication; procedureal complications are also responsible for such issues. Nearly 20% of Medicare patients are rehospitalized within 20 days of discharge. With each rehospitalization adding to patient medical costs, hospital care capacity and worsening public health, improving rehospitalization rates is a significant need, which this bill aims to address.

Prior to its passage today, the bill passed the Public Health Committee in March by a unanimous 35-0 vote. It now heads to the House for further consideration.