Hospital discharge is a key transition health process, whose relevance is often overshadowed by the urgency of shortened hospitalizations and health institutions routines that have been settled for many years. An unplanned and inappropriate discharge can lead to readmissions and negative implications for patients, caregivers and hospitals. Therefore, multiple interventions exist, with different levels of evidence that seek to improve the discharge process by focusing on health teams, institutions and patients. Given there is no single effective strategy, this article covers aspects that several authors have identified as relevant when working on discharge planning.