How to Determine DME Needed at Discharge

As hospitals have shortened inpatient stays, patients are leaving acute care facilities weaker and with a great deal more healing to do. Now, a "durable medical equipment" discharge assessment is a standard aspect of discharge planning; when at one time, it was coordinated only for home hospice care. Proper planning to meet a patient's needs at home will help foster a faster recovery and prevent injuries and possible hospital readmission.

Instructions

• 1

  Assess the patient's degree of mobility in conjunction with his diagnoses. Is he independently ambulatory or does he require assistance in the form of a cane, walker or wheelchair? What type of endurance does he demonstrate before requiring rest or added assistance? Consider ambulatory aids, if the patient is weak, easily fatigued or demonstrates dyspnea on exertion.

• 2

  Ascertain the architecture of the patient's home in addition to his primary diagnosis. For instance, is the patient's bedroom located on the second floor? Will it be temporarily moved to the ground floor during his recovery? A hospital bed and a rolling tray table may be helpful, especially if a great deal of bed-rest is anticipated. If the patient is weak, he may find a trip to the bathroom especially tiring and the bathroom commode seat too low to easily rise from. In this instance, a bedside commode may help conserve his energy.

• 3

  Assess the patient's hygiene needs. While bed baths may be appropriate during the first few days home or until a wound dressing is removed, a shower chair is almost always helpful to have on hand, particularly if the shower features a handheld sprayer.

• 4

  Determine the patient's oxygen needs in conjunction with his respiratory therapist and pulmonary physician. Be sure that portable options are made available for use in trips to and from the hospital or doctor's practice.

• 5

  Consider a geri-chair, if the patient is weak, but postural changes are necessary to prevent complications. This type of chair is a movable, easily cleaned, medical "recliner" that can be used as an easy chair or extended to a full recliner position.