Hospital discharge checklist

Why the ride home is the hard part

Most clinics won't let you leave alone after sedation, and many cancel a procedure that has no one lined up to take you home. In a 2019 poll of outpatient surgery staff (Outpatient Surgery Magazine, AORN), 69% said they never let a patient go home alone by Uber, Lyft or taxi. If you live alone, the hard part of a colonoscopy or a day surgery is often the ride home.

Your PDF has a one-page plan for the day, a checklist for the first 72 hours at home, and a sheet of questions to ask the clinic or hospital, with room for the answers.

How to use your plan

This plan covers who and when, not your care. Your clinic's instructions come first. In an emergency, call 911.

Answering the questions

Every question is optional. Skip a name or a time and your PDF leaves a line to fill in by hand.

Ask the clinic first

Each clinic sets its own rule for getting home. US surgery centers that take Medicare must send you home with a responsible adult unless your doctor exempts you (42 CFR 416.52), and most hospitals define that adult by what they do: come inside, sign you out and go home with you. Some want them there at check-in, some want a licensed driver, and some want someone to stay the night. Ask before you book anyone and before you start any prep. Your questions sheet has the words.

If there's no one to ask, hire one

Procedure escorts meet you, wait, sign you out and see you home, and home care agencies send an aide by the hour. NewYork-Presbyterian tells patients without a friend or family member that it can connect them with a service. Most hospitals don't say either way, so ask yours whether a paid escort counts, and get the yes in writing. A taxi or rideshare is a different thing: most hospitals we checked accept one only with your escort riding along.

Book for the day the time moves

Clinics often call with your arrival time the day before; The Ottawa Hospital calls "the afternoon or evening before." That's after many escort services' 24-hour cancellation cutoff. Book a longer block than the clinic's estimate, keep a backup number, and ask the service in writing what happens if the clinic moves your time.

Going home after a hospital stay

Ask for the discharge planner or a social worker early, and say you live alone. Most US states let you name a caregiver for discharge, and a friend counts: New York's law (Public Health Law, section 2994-ii) names "a relative, partner, friend or neighbor." The hospital then tells them when you're going home and shows them what to do, and leaving the box blank can't hold up your discharge. Medicare home health is a few visits from a nurse or therapist, not a daily helper, so line up the other hours before you leave.

Read next

• Temporary home care after surgery: the ride, the first night and the first week.
• No one to drive you home after a colonoscopy, and getting around without a car.
• What Medicare home health covers, and who counts as your "primary caregiver".
• How hospitals find next of kin, and pet care if you go to hospital.
• Every home care guide in one place: what to hire, what it costs and who checks the work.

Other free tools

• In-home care cost calculator: what an escort, a night and the first days of help cost to hire where you live.
• Daily check-in plan: who checks on you each day once you're home.
• Emergency contact card: a wallet card that tells the clinic, or anyone who finds you, who to call.
• Pet planning sheet: who looks after your pets while you're away.

This plan isn't medical advice, it doesn't arrange anyone, and no one is on call because of it. Company and program names are examples, not endorsements, so check what's available where you live.