Optimizing Discharge Management: Empirical Insights and Technological Requirements (Preprint)

UNSTRUCTURED Hospital discharge management is a critical yet complex practice at the intersection of care continuity, administrative coordination, and organizational constraints. This paper presents findings from an empirical field study of discharge management workflows in two German hospitals, highlighting the roles, routines, and challenges faced by healthcare professionals in orchestrating patient transitions. Drawing from qualitative interviews and ethnographic observations, we identify key tensions in communication, documentation, and inter-professional collaboration that shape discharge processes. Based on these insights, we derive design implications for the development of supportive health technologies that align with real-world practices and responsibilities. We argue that understanding discharge management as a sociotechnical process is essential for designing responsible and context-sensitive AI-based systems in healthcare. Our study contributes to ongoing discussions on care transitions, assistive system design, and the responsible integration of technology into clinical work.