The first step in preventing hospitalizations is making sure that ICS members have access to primary care providers and specialists who can identify and treat health problems before they become serious enough to require hospitalization. This is enhanced by our longstanding relationships with disability-competent medical providers and ICS’s disability expert care coordination, which helps our members prevent conditions like pressure wounds and urinary tract infections that commonly land people with disabilities in the hospital.

When an ICS member is hospitalized, his or her care manager works with the member, the hospital, post-hospital nursing home staff and the members’ caregivers to:

• Address any barriers to care that the member may need help with during their hospital stay. For example, when someone with a disability is hospitalized and loses the support of their homecare aide, they may be unable to use a typical call bell and require an adaptive piece of equipment in order to call the hospital staff for help.
• Make sure that the member, their aides and family caregivers understand the member’s condition and medication, required follow-up care, and how to identify red flags.
• Ensure that follow-up medical appointments are scheduled and that transportation to those appointments is arranged.
• See to it that the member receives all needed supports, such as home care or home nursing visits to remain out of the hospital, and maintain their health.

The ICS care coordinator will also accompany the member to medical appointments, if needed and desired by the member.

These are all important steps in ensuring that our members are able to fully recover after a hospital stay, rather than have their health deteriorate, putting them at risk for another hospital admission.

We also know that hospitalizations are very scary to our members. Our goal is to support them and make sure that they receive the services they need, both during and following a hospital stay.
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More information about preventing hospitalizations

• Read our Hospitalization tip sheet to learn about how to avoid a hospital stay and what to know if you do have to go to the hospital.
• Listen to an ICS podcast about staying out of the hospital.