Discharge planning

Health Management Glossary

Hospital Operations

Definition. Discharge planning is the development of an individualised plan for a patient before leaving hospital, to ensure a safe and timely transition to home or another care setting.

Explanation

Planning ideally starts at admission and covers assessment of needs, coordination with community and social services, medication reconciliation, patient and carer education, and follow-up arrangements.

A Cochrane review found that structured discharge planning modestly reduces length of stay and readmissions for older medical patients (Gonçalves-Bradley et al., 2022). Delayed discharges, often caused by waiting for community or social care, are a main driver of bed shortages and of emergency department crowding.

Related concepts

Length of stay Patient flow Hospital readmission

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References

Gonçalves-Bradley, D. C., Lannin, N. A., Clemson, L., Cameron, I. D., & Shepperd, S. (2022). Discharge planning from hospital. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (2), CD000313.

Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Discharge planning. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/discharge-planning/

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