A large share of hospital readmissions among older adults trace back to the first weeks at home, and many of those come down to a conversation that happened too fast in a room with too many people in it.
Print this. Bring it. Hand it to the discharge planner rather than reading it aloud.
Ask the doctor
- What exactly happened, in plain language?
- What should recovery look like week by week?
- Which symptoms mean call your office, and which mean call 911?
- What activity is off limits, and for how long?
- When is the follow-up, and who schedules it?
Ask about medications
- Which home medications stop entirely?
- Which continue at a different dose?
- What is new, and what is it for?
- Which of these interact with each other?
- What do we do about a missed dose?
- What does this cost, and is there a generic?
Ask the discharge planner
- What equipment has been ordered, and who is delivering it?
- Which home health agency was assigned, and when do they call?
- How many visits are approved, and by whom?
- What does insurance cover, and what will we be billed for?
- If we do not feel ready, what is the appeal process?
Ask about daily care
- Show me the transfer from bed to chair before we leave.
- Show me any wound care, and watch me do it once.
- What can they do alone, and what needs a second person?
- What are they allowed to eat?
- When can they shower, and how?
- Who do we call at 2am on a Sunday?
One more thing
Ask for the discharge summary in writing before you leave the room, not mailed later. If a doctor changed a medication and the summary does not say so, find out now.
If you believe the discharge is too soon, read how to appeal a hospital discharge under Medicare. All 22 questions, with room for the answers, are in the free Caregiver Quick-Start Pages and the Hospital Discharge Planning Kit.
Tend & Keep Field Guide. Reviewed October 2026. Educational information, not medical advice.