Before being discharged from a hospital:

• Meet with the hospital discharge planner as soon as you can and get a discharge plan. The plan should include everything you'll need to know for life after the hospital.
• Be sure to get a discharge summary. It recaps what happened in the hospital and what you need to know going forward. Take it to your next doctor's appointment. Then keep it with your copy of your medical records.
• Request a copy of your medical records.
• If the hospital asks you to pay the bill before leaving, if you don't have insurance, you can negotiate the bill. If you do have insurance, check with your insurance company before paying.
• The length of your stay in the hospital depends on your doctor and insurance company.They determine when your condition is medically stable so that you can be discharged. If they want you to leave the hospital earlier than you think reasonable, you don't have to go quietly.
• On the other hand, press firmly if you want to leave earlier than your doctor thinks advisable. (Do not leave without medical consent. If you do, you may be stuck with the bill for your entire stay without insurance).

Assume any belongings you bring home from a hospital are contaminated and should be washed before being used again.

NOTE: If there are follow-up problems, the best way to ensure that you are covered by insurance is to return to the same hospital.  For example, postoperative care is part of surgery and follow-up will likely be part of it.  Surgery may begin when you enter the operating room but it does not end when you leave.   

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