--- title: "COVID-19: Three (3) Requirements for (Early) Discharge Planning" description: Preparing non-priority home health patients for early patient discharge should be the primary objective of home health agencies right now. image: https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/hubfs/Untitled-1.png --- [![PowerPath.ai](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Power-Path-copy.ai_-2048x263.png?width=2000&height=256&name=Power-Path-copy.ai_-2048x263.png "PowerPath.ai")](https://powerpath.ai/) - [How It Works](https://powerpath.ai/how-it-works/) - [Tools for Growth](https://powerpath.ai/tools-for-growth/) - [Meet Pattii](https://powerpath.ai/meet-pattii/) - [Resources](https://powerpath.ai/resources/) - [Blog](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog) - [About](https://powerpath.ai/about/) - [Contact](https://powerpath.ai/contact/) [My Account](https://secure.myhomecarebiz.com/) [Get Demo](https://melissa-myhomecarebiz.youcanbook.me/) ![BlogHeaderImg](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/hs-fs/hubfs/BlogHeaderImg.png?width=2000&height=666&name=BlogHeaderImg.png "BlogHeaderImg") # Home Health Insights Stay informed with the latest news in home health. ## Browse by Topic - [Regulatory News for Home Health & Hospice (173)](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/topic/regulatory-news-for-home-health-hospice) - [Clinical Best Practices for Home Health & Hospice (22)](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/topic/clinical-best-practices-for-home-health-hospice) - [Home Health Billing & Coding (21)](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/topic/home-health-billing-coding) - [Home Health Marketing (18)](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/topic/home-health-marketing) ## COVID-19: Three (3) Requirements for (Early) Discharge Planning COVID-19: Three (3) Requirements for (Early) Discharge Planning Posted by Melissa Cott on Mar 25, 2020 # COVID-19: Three (3) Requirements for (Early) Discharge Planning Posted by [Melissa Cott](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/author/melissa-cott) on Mar 25, 2020 ## Prepare Patients for Early Discharge Preparing [non-priority](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/covid-19-daily-home-health-management-plan) home health patients for early discharge should be the primary objective of home health agencies right now. Since accessibility to routine healthcare is currently suspended, home health agencies should prepare patients and caregivers to assume responsibility of monitoring their own medical conditions and practicing preventive care sooner rather than later. Under these challenging circumstances, preparing patients for early discharge process requires enlisting the patient/caregiver to actively participate in monitoring her/his symptoms and reporting unstable symptoms to the physician. Additionally, the patient/caregiver [should be provided written instructions for diagnosis-specific preventive care](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/oasisd-patient-teaching-for-every-diagnosis) to be practiced for managing symptoms.  ## Non-Priority Patients Non-priority patients include those who have a teachable caregiver, and/or those who have medication administration or procedures that can be performed by the patient or caregiver.[![Download Simple & Comprehensive Teaching Recall Sheets](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/375308/144a82c8-87cf-4e4a-8a86-2182c0ee4615.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/375308/144a82c8-87cf-4e4a-8a86-2182c0ee4615) ## Priority Patients Priority patients include those who do NOT have a teachable caregiver and the patient is NOT teachable, or those who have medications or procedures that can only be performed by a skilled professional. ## Priority 1: Provide a written list of diagnosis-specific signs and symptoms to be monitored. Provide a list of signs and symptoms that require a call to the doctor. A list of the top 3-5 symptoms for each diagnosis - that indicate the physician's orders are not working - should be provided to the patient/caregiver. In both challenging and normal times (just 4 weeks ago!), a teachable patient or caregiver is capable of notifying the physician when s/he is experiencing unstable symptoms. A list of signs and symptoms might look like the following: **Congestive Heart Failure:** Call the doctor if you have weight gain, shortness of breath, unusual fatigue, increased swelling of legs, ankles and feet, palpitations, persistent cough or wheezing **Pressure Ulcer:** Call the doctor if you have increased wound drainage, increase in pain, foul wound smell, increased temperature **Neurogenic bladder:** Call the doctor if you have urinary incontinence, decreased volume or dribbling when urinating, urinary frequency and/or urgency ## Priority 2: Provide description of preventive care to be practiced. Provide a list of the preventive care to be performed. An example:  - Follow your cardiac diet. - Take your blood pressure every day and report abnormalities to the physician. - Get 7-9 hours of enough sleep every night. - Get 30 minutes of exercise a day   ## Priority 3: Provide written instructions for procedures. [Patients requiring wound care, catheter or ostomy care or any type of procedure should have WRITTEN, printed instructions. The teaching plan should have step-by-step instructions for preparing and performing the procedure. The patient/caregiver should be able to DEMONSTRATE the step-by-step instructions before discharge.](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/oasisd-patient-teaching-for-every-diagnosis) ## Perform medication teaching. Patients are often on 15, 20 – even 30 or more medications. Often patients don’t remember medication information and/or find it hard to retain. Medication teaching might need to wait until a later time. Provide a list the medications the patient is taking for each diagnosis.  [COVID-19: Substitutions for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/covid-19-substitutions-for-personal-protective-equipment-ppe) ## [COVID-19: Daily Management Plan for Home Health Agencies](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/covid-19-daily-home-health-management-plan) Tags: [Emergency Preparedness](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/topic/emergency-preparedness), [COVID-19](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/topic/covid-19) [![you will make Medicare happy](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/375308/98f7e1e7-1e9a-44ed-994f-96665cf71930.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/375308/98f7e1e7-1e9a-44ed-994f-96665cf71930) ### Topics - [Clinical Best Practices for Home Health & Hospice (22)](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/topic/clinical-best-practices-for-home-health-hospice) - [CMS News for Billing (6)](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/topic/cms-news-for-billing) - [Conditions of Participation (16)](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/topic/conditions-of-participation) - [COVID-19 (11)](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/topic/covid-19) - [DX Alzheimers/Dementia (3)](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog/topic/dx-alzheimers-dementia) ### Recent Posts [![Power-Path-copy.ai_-2048x263](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Power-Path-copy.ai_-2048x263.png?width=2000&height=256&name=Power-Path-copy.ai_-2048x263.png "Power-Path-copy.ai_-2048x263")](https://powerpath.ai/) ## AI-powered EMR and outcomes-based marketing tools that help home health agencies operate smarter, improve patient results, and grow referrals—all in one HIPAA-compliant platform. - [How It Works](https://powerpath.ai/how-it-works/) - [Tools for Growth](https://powerpath.ai/tools-for-growth/) - [Meet Pattii](https://powerpath.ai/meet-pattii/) - [Resources](https://powerpath.ai/resources/) - [Blog](https://go.myhomecarebiz.com/blog) - [About](https://powerpath.ai/about/) - [Contact](https://powerpath.ai/contact/) [Get Demo](https://melissa-myhomecarebiz.youcanbook.me/) ## © 2026 PowerPath.ai. 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