Guide
Preparing the care handover.
In short: a good handover starts early. For the request, clinical details without name and address are enough at first. The complete documents follow once a provider has confirmed.
Framework
Discharge management is part of hospital treatment (Section 39(1a) SGB V). The details are set out in a framework agreement at federal level.
For nursing, the expert standard on discharge management in nursing (Expertenstandard Entlassungsmanagement in der Pflege) of the DNQP describes professional requirements. The rules and standards of your hospital remain decisive.
Checklist for the request
A provider needs these details to decide whether it can take over – without name, address or date of birth:
Checklist for the handover
After confirmation, the provider usually needs for the first day:
Workflow in the hospital
1. Identify the need early
Clarify early whether care will be needed after discharge.
2. Clarify consent and wishes
Talk with the patient and the relatives about wishes and consent.
3. Make the request
Contact suitable providers with the clinical details.
4. Prepare the handover
After confirmation, put together the documents and agree on the date.
Requesting with minimal data
On Pflege Patienten you post care needs in pseudonymised form – without name, address or date of birth. You pass these details on to the provider directly after the selection, not via the portal. You obtain the consent of the patient to the referral.
What this guide does not cover
This guide is not a procedural instruction. The framework agreement, the standards of your hospital and the requirements of your data protection officer are decisive.
Read more: For hospitals and social services · Privacy and security
Status
Pflege Patienten editorial team · Published 11 Oct 2026.
Editorial status: 11 October 2026. The linked sources were checked automatically. No independent professional or legal review of this article has taken place so far.
Further information: Federal Ministry of Health (German)
Requesting follow-up care
How social services work with Pflege Patienten is shown on the page for hospitals.