[Warren Kiefer]

I am waiting to pick up a friend at the Leesburg Hospital. It could be late this afternoon before he will be coming home. This recently happened to me and I don't understand why. In my friends case, his cardiac physician told him at 8AM this morning he could go home. He must now wait until the Hospital doctor, a doctor he has never seen and doesn't even know, signs papers for him to be released. In my case, my urologist signed release papers at 7 AM for me to be released. The "Hospital Doctor" who had nothing to do with my three day stay in the Leesburg Hospital, did not come around until 5 PM that afternoon to sign the release papers. I found this to be very stressful and probably could have been handled differently. Why ??????

[outlaw]

Money. An extra day stay at $$$$$.

[Sandtrap328]

If I was in that situation, I would tell the nurse station to get the doctor up to my room within a reasonable time (maybe 1 or 2 hours) to sign the discharge papers or I would be calling the hospital administrator.

[Bonnevie]

our hospital the problem was that the doctor would be making rounds early but seeing several patients. many of them were told they were being discharged. the doctor, however, doesn't actually write the orders until after he's seen all his patients, sometimes hours later. so what was told at 7am might not be entered until much later. multiply that by many doctors and the discharges add up and come all at once. regulations require certain things to be done and it can be a mad house for staff and patients don't understand.

[outlaw]

If the hospital was paid based on how quickly they discharged you, they would have you on your way ten minutes after your doctor released you.

[spring_chicken]

Just out of curiosity, is there a problem with getting up and leaving when the first doctor tells you that you can go home? I know you would be leaving against medical advice... but technically, you're not.
I did it one time years ago in another state. Have things changed and they have some way to keep you from leaving?

[chuck90199]

In my case last year, my doctor said I could go home at 10AM. But the Villages Regional Hospital doctor (The Hospitalist) was down at Leesburg discharging patients. He is the hospitalist for both hospitals. He didn't get up to the Villages to sign the discharge orders until the afternoon, therefore I ended up having to wait until 5:30 PM to go home.

[Chi-Town]

There is a possibility that the insurance will not pay if you are not discharged properly

[dbussone]

Originally Posted by Warren Kiefer

I am waiting to pick up a friend at the Leesburg Hospital. It could be late this afternoon before he will be coming home. This recently happened to me and I don't understand why. In my friends case, his cardiac physician told him at 8AM this morning he could go home. He must now wait until the Hospital doctor, a doctor he has never seen and doesn't even know, signs papers for him to be released. In my case, my urologist signed release papers at 7 AM for me to be released. The "Hospital Doctor" who had nothing to do with my three day stay in the Leesburg Hospital, did not come around until 5 PM that afternoon to sign the release papers. I found this to be very stressful and probably could have been handled differently. Why ??????

If your admitting/attending physician has signed your discharge papers you are free to leave. If you have been under the care of the Hospitalist then he will need to sign the discharge papers.

If you have questions ask your nurse. If she doesn't know, ask to speak to the nursing supervisor/director on duty.

If you truly have not been seen by the Hospitalist and are billed for care, complain to the hospital. Then notify your insurance company.

[Warren Kiefer]

Originally Posted by spring_chicken

Just out of curiosity, is there a problem with getting up and leaving when the first doctor tells you that you can go home? I know you would be leaving against medical advice... but technically, you're not.
I did it one time years ago in another state. Have things changed and they have some way to keep you from leaving?

On my recent stay, I was told by the charge nurse that I did not wait until the "Hospital Doctor" signed the release papers, my insurance might not pay.

[Warren Kiefer]

Originally Posted by chuck90199

In my case last year, my doctor said I could go home at 10AM. But the Villages Regional Hospital doctor (The Hospitalist) was down at Leesburg discharging patients. He is the hospitalist for both hospitals. He didn't get up to the Villages to sign the discharge orders until the afternoon, therefore I ended up having to wait until 5:30 PM to go home.

This becomes very stressful for the patient and certainly doesn't help with his recovery. In my original post I spoke of my friend having to wait for a doctor that he has never received care from to sign the release papers. I just received a call from him, he is STILL waiting for the Hospital doctor to do his 30 second signing of the papers. Perhaps, I will never understand why this outrageous procedure is followed at our local hospitals.

[Warren Kiefer]

Originally Posted by outlaw

Money. An extra day stay at $$$$$.

This gets more goofy by the hour. I now find out that this "Hospital Doctor" that a patient has never had services from, perhaps has never seen, will bill the patient for his services, whatever that might be.. My friend is still waiting and will soon have been waiting eight hours.

[Nightengale212]

As an R.N. case manager who has a small role with discharge planning, often times delays have to do with awaiting lab or other test results. The doses of medications that a patient will be discharged on are often determined by lab results for example the anticoagulant medication Coumadin is determined by the PT/INR result. Also getting x-ray and CT scan readings on day of discharge can cause major delays. Most hospitals now electronically transmit x-rays to radiologists all over the world and have to wait for a radiologist in Australia for example to read the films and transmit back the results. Some attending physicians will write discharge orders in advance but will include pending a particular lab or test result which requires the discharging physician/hospitalist to review the results and make any necessary order changes.

Believe me, the hospital staff dislikes these discharge delays as much as the patient because more often than not there is a patient in the ED who is in very much in need of that bed.

[dotti105]

That is what happens when insurance companies make all the rules and not the medical professionals.

I am a RN and find it crazy that the Hospitalist is making the discharge decision. The patient was under his care simply due to being admitted during the Hospitalist's shift. There is no way he/she can be realistically be on top of all those patients. Very poor system.

Yes, call the House Supervisor. That is the RN in charge of everything that happens in the hospital 24/7. Because this is a weekend there will be no Hospital administrater sitting behind a desk somewhere. the House Super is where you need to start.

[Shimpy]

In my case after triple bypass surgery the hospital doctor wouldn't release me because he said my sodium was too low but my the doctor that did the surgery came in and said he's releasing me. I asked why and he said that the results of the last sodium test had to be wrong since I would have had to urinate many gallons in the past few hours. He said that was impossible and he was right.