The American Case Management Association established national standards of practice for case management, and now broadens its scope to include the development of Transitions of Care (TOC) Standards.

The phrase Transitions of Care (TOC) describes a process of transferring a patient’s care from one setting or level of care to another, such as from hospital to home or hospital to skilled nursing facility. These transitions are particularly vulnerable points in the healthcare continuum.

Homestead Community Health Center’s nurses are the keystone in clinical communication and coordination of patient care and thus are best equipped to coordinate a successful transition. The bedside nurse, for example, may understand a great deal more about the patient’s needs as they travel through the care continuum than other care team members. And when those needs are communicated effectively, the nurse is given the opportunity to extend to the patient high-value care beyond organizational boundaries through clinical communication. Our specialized nurses create transitional care plans by compiling all the pertinent patient information and creating instructions to be followed. Then they share the plan in detail with all members of the new care team so that the handoff is seamless for both the patient and the new unit or facility.