LAUSR

Post-acute and long-term care medical providers routinely work with teams to ensure the timely delivery of comprehensive, evidencebased care. It is unusual, however, to find lawyers as members of such teams, save for issues related to ethics and risk management. We propose the inclusion of attorneys as members of the hospital discharge team responsible for hospital to SNF transfers. The increasing complexity of such transfers, as well as associated legal and financial dangers, provides the rationale for our proposal. Beginning with an illustrative case example, we highlight medical-legal issues pertinent to both the sending and receiving facilities and offer potential models for incorporating advice and patient advocacy into the discharge planning process. Effectively integrating attorneys into this process while avoiding or mitigating potential conflicts of interest will remain a difficult challenge to overcome.