When admitting an older patient, ask the family one question: "Two weeks before this illness, what could they do on their own — walk, wash, dress, use the toilet?" Write the answer in the admission note. It is the only baseline against which discharge function can be judged, and without it, lost independence is recorded as the patient's normal.
- Ask the family about function two weeks before the acute illness.
- Write the pre-admission baseline in the admission note.
- Compare discharge function against it before sending the patient home.
Why it matters
A disability that nobody measured is a disability nobody rehabilitates.
Read the rest in the app
You have read your two free briefings this month. The app carries all 27 specialties, every morning, free — and this finding is waiting in it.
Scan to keep reading on your phone. No account needed to start.
Tomorrow morning, before your first patient
One edition a day for geriatrics, written by the desk, every claim tied to its paper. Six minutes.
Get the app — free