Gov. Maura Healey wants to alleviate hospital discharge bottlenecks that are contributing to hefty healthcare spending, but a recent report found Massachusetts has a shortage of guardians who are empowered to make medical decisions on behalf of incapacitated patients.
Patients may be medically stable enough to leave an acute care hospital and transition to other settings, such as a skilled nursing facility, but that process can face significant roadblocks if they’re unable to make medical decisions for themselves and also lack a surrogate decision maker, guardian or advance directive.
These “unrepresented individuals” are at “high risk for inappropriate medical care, including overtreatment, undertreatment, and delayed discharges from hospital facilities,” according to the report from the Department of Public Health and Eastern Research Group, Inc. This vulnerable cohort typically involves people who are experiencing homelessness or serious mental illness, lack a “willing or appropriate” healthcare surrogate, and have outlived their loved ones and friends…