Acute and transitional care by a private Spitex service
For very few people, a stay in hospital is something pleasant or particularly enjoyable. You find yourself in an unfamiliar environment, with unfamiliar people and at the mercy of the medical procedures and processes around you. But there are usually very good reasons why you are in hospital and not in your own bed at home. On the one hand, this includes the comprehensive, omnipresent care and medical treatment provided by highly qualified specialist staff. But also - depending on the severity of the illness or injury - the proximity of emergency nurses, equipment and materials should they be needed. So you can feel safe and secure in the hospital.
Every hospital stay comes to an end at some point. Hospital discharge is approaching. Often you are then faced with a few challenges at home:
- What needs to be taken care of?
- What needs to be organized?
- Where can I get support and from whom?
We are happy to help you a little with this topic.
Hospital discharge is approaching - what now?
If you are young, fit, perhaps already fully recovered or have committed family members and friends, such questions are less serious. For people with longer recovery times or without relatives living close by, however, these questions are essential. If patients are no longer able to look after their own affairs due to age, injury or illness, it is usually up to the next of kin to organize everything to do with leaving hospital. This includes ensuring that medical care and support in everyday life is also provided after the hospital stay.
Ideally, a hospital stay should end for those affected in their beloved home again. This is also more advantageous from a financial point of view, as health insurance companies cover the costs of acute and transitional care but not the costs of accommodation ("hotel services") -see SRF article "Transitional care: the gap in the system".
For support at home, a Spitex organization can be commissioned to provide acute and transitional care. It is ordered by the attending physician and lasts 14 days from the date of hospital discharge. Hospitals often have a social and discharge counseling service for this purpose. You are welcome to make use of this! Private Spitex in particular can extend the benefits. They not only provide the necessary medical care, but can also look after you throughout the day, offer expert advice, provide comprehensive support for relatives and help with the organizational aspects of bureaucratic processes. Regardless of who you commission to provide acute and transitional care, the costs are covered by the mandatory benefits of the basic health insurance, the municipality and the patient's deductible and co-payment.
Why is professional transitional care so important?
Some of the problems that a hospital discharge can entail begin in hospital. If patients are not given enough information in hospital or simply do not understand the doctors' prescriptions, this is not a good basis for recovery in everyday life at home. The beloved home also needs to be prepared accordingly and must offer all the necessary aids. It may need new framework conditions, such as a wheelchair, a care bed or similar. An unsafe environment in the home would probably also soon lead to the next hospital stay.
Even if these framework conditions are optimal, the care of those affected can fail due to problematic medication intake and inadequate nutrition and fluid intake. According to statistics in Switzerland, on average almost a quarter of discharged patients return to hospital within a month. In the end, even the best-prepared home, including medical care, does not help against the emotional and mental strain of loneliness.
7 advantages of acute and transitional care provided by a private Spitex organization
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Advantage 1: Professional Spitex transitional care begins with the bureaucratic processes of patient transfer even before the patient leaves hospital. Private Spitex organizations provide comprehensive advice and keep the workload for patients themselves or their relatives to a minimum.
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Advantage 2: A needs assessment is essential for the costs to be covered by health insurance. Private Spitex carries this out immediately, ideally within 24 hours of the patient's discharge from hospital. Communication between the hospital's internal and external nursing staff runs smoothly and any ambiguities are clarified quickly and professionally on the spot.
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Advantage 3: Transport home is either prepared directly by the private Spitex or organized by a transport service.
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Advantage 4: Patients and their relatives are comprehensively prepared and informed at all times. They have a contact person and the same caregivers.
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Advantage 5: All necessary aids, equipment, medication and follow-up therapies are procured or administered by private Spitex.
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Advantage 6: The doctors and therapists providing further treatment are contacted and involved. All arrangements are made with private Spitex.
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Advantage 7: The actual Spitex acute and transitional care begins at home, in familiar surroundings, with professional medical care and individual all-round support throughout the day. Medical reports are also sent out and all check-up appointments are coordinated.
Our practical checklist for your well-organized hospital discharge
We have put together a practical checklist to help you keep track of everything. If you can tick off all the questions on it for yourself or your relatives with a clear conscience, nothing should stand in the way of a carefree recovery period in hospital at home.
To download the checklist as a PDF, please complete the short form below. By sending it in, you automatically subscribe to our blog posts if you are not already registered. You can of course unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of the emails.
Do you have any questions about leaving hospital or about Spitex services, e.g. after a hospital stay? Simply take advantage of our non-binding and free initial consultation! We will clarify your personal situation or that of your relatives with you and advise you on your entitlement to state support tools or on insurance issues:
