Westchester Campus
Discharge planning is working with you to make sure you have the right care when discharged from the hospital. We work with you to create the best personalized discharge plan for you. Our goal is to make sure your discharge plan allows you to safely and smoothly return back to your home and community.
What is a discharge plan?
A discharge plan is your personalized aftercare plan when you discharge from the hospital. Our goal is to create a plan that allows you to return back safely and smoothly to your home, school or job, and community. This includes therapy and medication-management appointments and may also include other supports and treatments. Your treatment team will collaborate with you and discuss the discharge services they recommend, and with your consent, the team will make those referrals. Once referrals are made, the team will find out which resources are available based on your location, insurance, as well as availability within the programs. Even upon approval into a program, you have the right to change the plan if you and the team feel another discharge plan better suits your needs.
Why the need for a discharge plan?
The hospital must follow the New York State Office of Mental Health mandate that requires every patient to have a mental health appointment within seven days of their discharge date. Patients with comprehensive discharge plans who get seen by a clinician within seven days after discharge have a lower chance of being readmitted to a hospital.
The 7 day rule
Patients with comprehensive discharge plans who get seen by a clinician within 7 days after discharge have a lower chance of being readmitted to a hospital.
The discharge process
- 1
Your treatment team will discuss your current and past mental health treatment. If you are admitted to the hospital with your own providers, we work with them on your discharge plan. If you do not have providers that is where we start. We get your consent to explore resources in your community that accept your insurance and have openings for therapy and medication management.
- 2
Your treatment team will discuss your goals and progress and give you a loose timeline of when you may discharge. This is only a tentative discharge date, as it is impossible to predict an individual’s response to treatment. Sometimes anticipated discharge dates change as we get to know you and understand better what you need for aftercare.
- 3
Safety planning involves a session between you and your family or significant people in your life. This meeting reviews your aftercare plan: appointments; resources; coping skills you learned; and areas of your life that are still a source of stress in order to come up with a comprehensive safety plan for when you discharge from the hospital.
- 4
We make the referral to all your outside providers and wait for appointment times to be given. We understand it can be frustrating to have to wait until we have those firm appointments. Please remember we are committed to making the best and safest discharge plan for your individual needs.
