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Questions to ask before you leave the hospital

The first days after a hospital or ER visit are when things go wrong — a missed medication, a skipped follow-up, a warning sign nobody explained. Not because families don’t care, but because no one hands them a plan. Here is the plan. Print it, take it in, and don’t leave until you can answer these.

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1 My diagnosis — what actually happened

2 My medications — the #1 place things go wrong

3 Warning signs — when to come back or call 911

4 Follow-up — the appointments that prevent a readmission

5 Tests & results still pending

6 Day-to-day — what I can and can’t do

7 Before I walk out the door

This checklist is general education, not medical advice. It doesn’t replace your care team’s instructions — always follow what your doctors and nurses tell you. If this is an emergency, call 911.

Don’t want to keep track of the answers on paper?

tebChart is a free iPhone app that scans your discharge papers and organizes the medications, follow-ups, and answers to these exact questions — privately, on your phone. Built by the same ER doctor who wrote this checklist.

Get the free app