New York could become the eighth state to mandate that hospitals offer training to family and friends who care for patients after they are discharged from the hospital.
The Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable, or CARE Act, would allow patients to designate an informal caregiver in their medical record and require hospitals to provide instruction and demonstration to help that person care for the patient after discharge.
AARP, the advocacy group for senior citizens, has made the CARE Act its top priority in state legislatures for 2015. New York's Senate passed the legislation last week. It's now under review in the state Assembly.
The act's passage in the Empire State would represent a major victory for AARP. About 1.6 million New Yorkers are discharged to their homes from the state's hospitals every year. Similar legislation has been passed in Arkansas, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Virginia and West Virginia.
The proposed law requires hospitals to provide training to the patient's caregiver, often a family member or friend, in simple medical tasks needed after discharge, such as administering multiple medications, dressing wounds and operating medical equipment.
Though many hospitals offer such training as part of discharge planning, the legislation would ensure that caregiver education is required, said Bill Ferris, AARP's New York state legislative representative.
