An interdisciplinary approach to transitioning ventilator-dependent patients to home.

Home mechanical ventilation was once a remote idea and thought to be used only in extreme cases. However, patient preference as well as limited financial resources to care for these patients in a long-term setting is forcing acute care facilities and families to make the choice of home care. This article describes how an interdisciplinary team used a quality process to develop and implement tools to assist with discharge planning in this complex patient population.