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Discharge planner skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted expert
Sepideh Soheilian Ph.D.
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical discharge planner skills. We ranked the top skills for discharge planners based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 23.3% of discharge planner resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a discharge planner needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 discharge planner skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how discharge planners use patients:
  • Developed and implemented nurse discharge planning position Created collaborative relationship with patients, families and staff Established discharge plan and referral system
  • Managed full caseload of patients providing both supportive and educational counseling as well as utilization review and case management services.

2. Social Work

Here's how discharge planners use social work:
  • Served as primary baby/mother social worker assisting with child abuse prevention making referrals to local child protection and adoption agencies.
  • Provide back up to Administrative Assistant/ Coordinator in related secretarial tasks for Social Work Administrative office.

3. Home Health

Here's how discharge planners use home health:
  • Performed discharge planning for inpatient population utilizing home health services, SNF/assisted living/nursing home placement as appropriate.
  • Arranged post discharge care and transportation to home health agencies, nursing home, group home, or assisted living facilities.

4. Acute Care

The branch of secondary healthcare which is responsible for giving short-term care to patients recovering from severe injuries or urgent medical problems is known as acute care. Acute care comprises multiple domains like; emergency care, urgent care, short-term stabilization, pre-hospital care, critical care, and trauma care.

Here's how discharge planners use acute care:
  • Provided individualized counseling, education and resources to patients and families regarding post acute care.
  • Provided individual services to culturally diverse patients being discharged from an acute care hospital.

5. Patient Care

Patient care entails the diagnosis, recovery, and control of sickness as well as the maintenance of physical and emotional well-being through the use of healthcare providers' services. Patient care is described as services provided to patients by health practitioners or non-professionals under guidance.

Here's how discharge planners use patient care:
  • Coordinate patient care by providing recommendations and pertinent information to treatment providers regarding potentially appropriate authorizations as necessary.
  • Coordinated clinical or home-based outpatient care for discharged patients from all units.

6. Social Services

Here's how discharge planners use social services:
  • Provided information, counseling and linkage with post-hospital health/social services to assist the patient/family with adjustment to illness.
  • Provided social services and discharge planning for 12-bed in-patient rehabilitation unit located within the hospital.

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7. Medicaid

Here's how discharge planners use medicaid:
  • Performed concurrent reviews for Medicaid Medicare population in Skilled Nursing Facilities, acute inpatient rehabilitation and acute inpatient hospital stay.
  • Maintained a fluctuating caseload of 120 residents Assisted residents and families in completing Medicaid applications Admission and discharge planner

8. Substance Abuse

Here's how discharge planners use substance abuse:
  • Arranged placement at residential treatment facility and inpatient substance abuse for patients.
  • Coordinated discharge/aftercare plans for patients who completed inpatient substance abuse treatment.

9. Utilization Management

Here's how discharge planners use utilization management:
  • Receive, enter and make a medical determination for procedures from the approved Utilization Management Representative Inpatient Exempt List.
  • Served as a resource for enhancement of Utilization Management processes and assures adherence to established standards.

10. Patient Discharge

Here's how discharge planners use patient discharge:
  • Worked closely with multiple interdisciplinary team members on development of individual patient discharge plans.
  • Scheduled transportation services upon patient discharge time and date with external transportation coordinators.

11. Discharge Planning

Here's how discharge planners use discharge planning:
  • Revised or developed nursing documentation tools and parent education material relating to Discharge Planning and Discharge Teaching.
  • Collaborated with providers to assess members needs for early identification of proactive planning for discharge planning.

12. Community Agencies

Community agencies stand for the organizations operated to provide human service in the community.

Here's how discharge planners use community agencies:
  • Communicated effectively with the interdisciplinary team, residents/patients, families and community agencies to coordinate a safe and appropriate discharge plan.
  • Developed and enhanced cooperative professional relationships with local community agencies significant to the continuum of care for clients.

13. Care Coordination

Here's how discharge planners use care coordination:
  • Care Coordination and support for in-home medical care of technology-dependent children who would otherwise remain in a hospital or SNF.
  • Complete SPOA Case Management and Care Coordination application, long term residential or 28 day rehabilitation and shelter referrals.

14. Care Services

Here's how discharge planners use care services:
  • Invested and secured available home-care services and entitlement packages.
  • Assist patient in telephone screening for aftercare services/outpatient service.

15. Psychosocial Assessments

Here's how discharge planners use psychosocial assessments:
  • Conduct psychosocial assessments of inpatients, formulate discharge plan and implement referral as appropriate to ambulatory care or community-based agencies.
  • Conducted psychosocial assessments on miscarriage mothers to provide support and connect to community resources.
top-skills

What skills help Discharge Planners find jobs?

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What discharge planner skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Sepideh Soheilian Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, University of Baltimore

If a recent college graduate decides to take a gap year between their undergraduate studies and starting a master's program in Counseling Psychology, my advice would be to try their best to be exposed to or engage in either 1) experiences in the field of mental health, or 2) experiences that will strengthen their social science research skills. Engaging in these types of experiences such as working as an administrative assistant in a private practice, or volunteering on a psychiatric unit at a hospital will provide greater exposure to the field of mental health and hopefully, help the graduate determine if entering the mental health field would be the right fit for their career expectations, goals, and values.

List of discharge planner skills to add to your resume

Discharge planner skills

The most important skills for a discharge planner resume and required skills for a discharge planner to have include:

  • Patients
  • Social Work
  • Home Health
  • Acute Care
  • Patient Care
  • Social Services
  • Medicaid
  • Substance Abuse
  • Utilization Management
  • Patient Discharge
  • Discharge Planning
  • Community Agencies
  • Care Coordination
  • Care Services
  • Psychosocial Assessments
  • Mental Illness
  • Utilization Review
  • Nursing Home
  • Community Services
  • Rehabilitation
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Mental Health
  • Health Insurance
  • SNF
  • HIPAA
  • Financial Assistance
  • Durable Medical Equipment
  • Care Facilities
  • Discharge Plan
  • Physical Therapy
  • Outpatient Services
  • Medical Necessity
  • Acute Rehab
  • Insurance Coverage
  • Emotional Support
  • Medication Management
  • Medical Care
  • Hospice Services
  • ICU
  • Smooth Transition
  • MDS
  • Community Resources
  • LTAC
  • InterQual
  • Hospital Stay
  • IV
  • Hippa
  • Concurrent Review

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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