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Are you saying that you legally can't leave a hospital until somebody else promises to take care of you? That sounds a little unsettling. What do they do if som

Are you saying that you legally can't leave a hospital until somebody else promises to take care of you? That sounds a little unsettling. What do they do if somebody just walks out?

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
shagie 4y ago
If you have been sedated, many states have a law that say that you can only be discharged to the care of a responsible adult. This has been an issue for me in the past when I was sedated for a root canal. I had my brother's girlfriend's father pick me up from the dentist. As to walking out? I was in absolutely no shape to walk out. If someone is still insistent on leaving: > If you discover that your patient doesn’t have a responsible adult to take them home until after the procedure is complete and they’re dressed and insisting to go home on their own, your best option is to document as much as possible. Insist that the patient sign an AMA (against medical advice) form. Then write up the details of the patient’s non-compliance in an incident report in their medical record. Also, let their surgeon know.
BoorishBears 4y ago
I think you're taking an uncharitable view of things. The effect of the above is: "They're not allowed to forcibly eject you if doing so would make you unsafe" For example, I was allowed to stay an extra night because I live alone and needed to coordinate a helper to safely go up my stairs. There's a very specific set of reasons why they can hold you defined separately from this. tl;dr if they do eject you into an unsafe envious they face liability, but not so much liability that they need to imprison you...
- iudqnolq 4y ago
  No, the effect is also that policy can be to put you're "non-compliant" in your medical record (see your sibling). If those words don't terrify you then this probably isn't an issue for you, but for some that can be a literal death sentence.
  - shagie 4y ago
    I would urge you to read https://www.aana.com/docs/default-source/practice-aana-com-web-documents-(all)/professional-practice-manual/discharge-after-sedation-or-anesthesia-on-the-day-of-the-procedure.pdf https://www.aana.com/docs/default-source/practice-aana-com-w... The title is "Discharge After Sedation or Anesthesia on the Day of the Procedure: Patient Transportation With or Without a Responsible Adult" from the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology The checklist starts out with: > Review and comply with federal, state, and local law and regulations as well as facility accreditation requirements > Engage the facility’s legal counsel, risk manager and/or similar role to review and address liability and legal concerns. There are significant liability risks for a hospital to discharge a person who has been sedated to anyone other than an adult who has the obligation to give care to the person if needed. This includes things like discharging a person who has been sedated to a ride share who then robs them (you are free to imagine worse situations). As this has happened with intoxicated people being driven home from a bar, hospitals are rightly concerned that if they discharge someone to a ride share, they may be incurring significant liability of their own. Going back to my sedation dentistry experiences, the person who is going to take me home has to be there with me at the start while I am not yet sedated and there were a number of forms that I filled out when I became a patient of theirs identifying the people who could drive me. The laws around the requirements and liability for a medical facility to discharge person who has been sedated do not give much wiggle room for the hospital to get out of that liability.

Are you saying that you legally can't leave a hospital until somebody else promises to take care of you? That sounds a little unsettling. What do they do if somebody just walks out?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

shagie 4y ago

If you have been sedated, many states have a law that say that you can only be discharged to the care of a responsible adult. This has been an issue for me in the past when I was sedated for a root canal. I had my brother's girlfriend's father pick me up from the dentist. As to walking out? I was in absolutely no shape to walk out. If someone is still insistent on leaving: > If you discover that your patient doesn’t have a responsible adult to take them home until after the procedure is complete and they’re dressed and insisting to go home on their own, your best option is to document as much as possible. Insist that the patient sign an AMA (against medical advice) form. Then write up the details of the patient’s non-compliance in an incident report in their medical record. Also, let their surgeon know.

BoorishBears 4y ago

I think you're taking an uncharitable view of things. The effect of the above is: "They're not allowed to forcibly eject you if doing so would make you unsafe" For example, I was allowed to stay an extra night because I live alone and needed to coordinate a helper to safely go up my stairs. There's a very specific set of reasons why they can hold you defined separately from this. tl;dr if they do eject you into an unsafe envious they face liability, but not so much liability that they need to imprison you...

iudqnolq 4y ago
No, the effect is also that policy can be to put you're "non-compliant" in your medical record (see your sibling). If those words don't terrify you then this probably isn't an issue for you, but for some that can be a literal death sentence.
- shagie 4y ago
  I would urge you to read https://www.aana.com/docs/default-source/practice-aana-com-web-documents-(all)/professional-practice-manual/discharge-after-sedation-or-anesthesia-on-the-day-of-the-procedure.pdf https://www.aana.com/docs/default-source/practice-aana-com-w... The title is "Discharge After Sedation or Anesthesia on the Day of the Procedure: Patient Transportation With or Without a Responsible Adult" from the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology The checklist starts out with: > Review and comply with federal, state, and local law and regulations as well as facility accreditation requirements > Engage the facility’s legal counsel, risk manager and/or similar role to review and address liability and legal concerns. There are significant liability risks for a hospital to discharge a person who has been sedated to anyone other than an adult who has the obligation to give care to the person if needed. This includes things like discharging a person who has been sedated to a ride share who then robs them (you are free to imagine worse situations). As this has happened with intoxicated people being driven home from a bar, hospitals are rightly concerned that if they discharge someone to a ride share, they may be incurring significant liability of their own. Going back to my sedation dentistry experiences, the person who is going to take me home has to be there with me at the start while I am not yet sedated and there were a number of forms that I filled out when I became a patient of theirs identifying the people who could drive me. The laws around the requirements and liability for a medical facility to discharge person who has been sedated do not give much wiggle room for the hospital to get out of that liability.