Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

The Basics: A bill aimed at helping caregivers when patients leave the hospital

  • Health
  • by Arielle Levin Becker
  • May 7, 2015
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"
Sen. Dante Bartolomeo

Arielle Levin Becker :: The CT Mirror

Sen. Dante Bartolomeo

Sen. Dante Bartolomeo drove her grandmother home from the hospital last summer thinking she was prepared to continue providing her care. But when she drove into the garage and tried to help her grandmother use her walker, she realized there was a problem: No one at the hospital had mentioned that her grandmother was no longer able to walk.

“It was really, really frightening,” Bartolomeo, D-Meriden, said Thursday, hours before she joined fellow Senators in unanimously passing a bill aimed at preventing those sorts of situations by requiring hospitals to ensure that patients’ caregivers know the person’s care plan and how to provide assistance before the patient is sent home.

Nearly 500,000 Connecticut residents serve as unpaid caregivers for friends or family at any given time, according to research by the AARP Public Policy Institute.

basicsAnd experts say caregivers often don’t get instructions on how to best provide care, even if it involves complex tasks like administering injections or medication.

Getting out of the hospital can be a particularly vulnerable time for patients. People’s medications often change while they’re in the hospital, and it can be difficult to figure out which ones to take when they get home. And patients don’t always remember all the instructions they receive while in hospital rooms surrounded by noisy monitors.

Addressing the potential pitfalls for patients as they move between settings — such as from hospitals to nursing homes or home — has been a major focus in the health care industry in recent years, spurred in part by federal penalties for hospitals that have high numbers of Medicare patients who return to the hospital for preventable reasons within 30 days of being discharged.

The bill the Senate passed Thursday, known as the CARE Act, is aimed at helping caregivers of people discharged from the hospital.

Here are some things to know.

What does the bill do?

Under the bill, hospital patients being discharged home would be allowed to designate a caregiver.

If the patient does so before receiving his or her discharge instructions, the hospital would have to list the caregiver’s name and contact information in the discharge plan and attempt to notify the caregiver that the patient is being sent home.

The hospital would also be required to give the caregiver instructions on the assistance tasks included in the discharge plan, including by demonstrating the tasks. The instructions would have to be delivered in person or on video, using nontechnical language and in a culturally competent manner. The caregiver would also be given a chance to ask questions about those tasks.

However, the bill specifies that none of those requirements would be allowed to delay a patient’s discharge from the hospital. Similarly, the hospital’s inability to reach the patient’s designated caregiver would not interfere with or delay the patient’s discharge under the bill.

What does the bill not do?

The bill does not apply to situations in which patients are discharged from hospitals to rehabilitation facilities, nursing homes, assisted living facilities or group homes, unless the patient lived there before the hospitalization.

No patient would be required to designate a caregiver. And being designated as a caregiver would not obligate a person to provide assistance to the patient.

Who does it affect?

The bill affects hospitals, hospital patients and those who serve as unpaid caregivers for them.

Why did it come up?

AARP has advocated for these policy changes in Connecticut and in other states. New Jersey and Oklahoma passed similar measures last year, and other states are considering similar proposals.

Sen. Mae Flexer

Arielle Kevin Becker :: CTMirror.org

Sen. Mae Flexer

The proposal found many receptive legislators in Connecticut, some of whom have had their own experiences as caregivers.

During a press conference on the bill Thursday, several lawmakers described the difficulties of knowing how to properly care for their loved ones. Sen. Mae Flexer, D-Killingly, co-chair of the Aging Committee, recalled that her father, who was injured in a motorcycle accident, was once given instructions in a hospital on how to care for a wound that he couldn’t reach, when none of his caregivers were present.

Patients often leave the hospital soon after surgery, and often require continuing care at home, Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, noted. And he said research indicates that many caregivers fear they will make a mistake.

“Those first few hours and days at home after a hospital stay are critical to the recovery of the individual. However, the caregiver performing these tasks receives little or no training to do so,” Deb Migneault, senior policy analyst for Connecticut’s Legislative Commission on Aging, said in written testimony on the bill.

Melinda Montovani, a social worker who works for the Brain Injury Alliance of CT, wrote in testimony that she’s heard many stories of people with brain injuries who are discharged from hospitals without the proper instructions, leaving caregivers overwhelmed and unsure what to do when complications arise. Giving caregivers proper discharge instructions can prevent emergency room visits and hospital readmissions, which can set back patients’ recoveries, she added.

Proponents of the bill say some hospitals already do a good job of making sure caregivers receive instructions when patients are being discharged, but not all do. They say the bill will ensure there are standards.

What happens next?

The bill now moves to the House.

Related Stories
  • Caring, long term: A way of life for 1 in 8 Connecticut residents
  • Hospitals working to keep patients from coming back
  • Coaching patients to keep them from returning to the hospital
  • Simplifying the instructions for patients and their caregivers

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Arielle Levin Becker Arielle Levin Becker covers health care for The Connecticut Mirror. She previously worked for The Hartford Courant, most recently as its health reporter, and has also covered small towns, courts and education in Connecticut and New Jersey. She was a finalist in 2009 for the prestigious Livingston Award for Young Journalists and a recipient of a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship and the National Health Journalism Fellowship. She is a graduate of Yale University.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Plan to expand child tax credit offers hope along with direct payments
by Lisa Backus | C-HIT.ORG

When her car started making a noise more than a year ago, Chinara Johnson parked the vehicle and hasn’t used it since. As a New Haven mother of 5-year-old twin boys, one of whom is on the autism spectrum, and an 8-year-old daughter, Johnson doesn’t have the money to get the car running properly again. […]

Aid-in-dying bill clears key hurdle with committee passage
by Jenna Carlesso

The bill would let terminally ill patients access medication to end their lives.

With billions in federal relief on the way to CT, legislators assert their role in deciding how to spend it
by Keith M. Phaneuf and Mark Pazniokas

With an unusual bill, state legislators are reminding Gov. Ned Lamont they have significant role in disbursing federal coronavirus relief.

How does the public option bill differ from Gov. Ned Lamont’s health care plan? Here’s a look at the two proposals.
by Jenna Carlesso

With the rising cost of care a central issue this legislative session, lawmakers and Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration have each moved ahead with their own plans aimed at driving down prices.

Medical providers are taking nature therapy seriously
by Jenifer Frank | C-HIT.ORG

In a time of social isolation and staying home, sometimes a walk in the park is the best medicine.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion The public health bill no one is talking about, but should be
by Brian Festa

On February 16,  the legislature's Public Health Committee conducted a public hearing on two bills, S.B. 568 and H.B. 6423, both of which would eliminate the religious exemption to mandatory vaccinations for Connecticut schoolchildren.  The hearing was capped at 24 hours, depriving nearly 1,500 members of the public who had registered for the hearing their opportunity to be heard.  The vast majority of those who did testify, and who submitted written testimony, opposed the bill.  The committee is expected to vote on the bill as early as  today. 

Opinion Students need more resources, fewer officers
by Tenille Bonilla

"School resource officer" is just a nice way to say cop. But what students really need is more resource and less officer.

Opinion The Board of Regents’ changes must not shortchange its students or faculty
by Carrie Andreoletti, PhD

As a university professor and a lifespan developmental psychologist, I tend to approach my work from a developmental perspective. This means I aim to foster a lifelong love of learning and to help others find a sense of meaning and purpose, as well as confidence in their ability to reach their goals. My approach to higher education is shaped by my desire to provide the best possible education for my students. This is why the recent Board of Regents’ proposed changes at the four state universities have me worried.

Opinion How to close schooling opportunity gaps created by the pandemic
by Carol Gale

We ask school district leaders to trust your public servants whose daily work life involves assessing student needs and planning or modifying instruction to meet those needs. Listen to their voices, as we have, and allocate precious resources on interventions that will offer increased opportunities for Hartford students to succeed.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO