Hospital-at-Home Innovation During COVID-19 and Beyond

For many years, we have not questioned the traditional wisdom of hospitalizing acutely ill people for medical care. But what if some acutely ill people could receive high-quality medical care in the comfort of their own homes? And what if that care actually led to better outcomes, reduced costs and enhanced patient experience?

What was once a small but mighty contingent of health care systems providing “hospital-at-home” care before the pandemic has grown into a larger movement. With this model, hospitals across the country are “admitting” patients to their own homes for acute care with excellent results. As highlighted in AHA’s recent issue brief on hospital-at-home, patients receiving this care have a 20% reduction in mortality, were three times less likely to be admitted to an emergency department than usual care patients and have higher satisfaction with their care. And these results are achieved at a 25% lower cost of care.

As we move into a new era of health care delivery, hospital-at-home is an innovative model for providing quality, person-centered care. It gives hospitals an opportunity to be leaders in this space and shape what health care can look like for years to come. Hospital-at-home programs make acute, hospital-level care available to patients in their homes. This model of care is well suited for patients in need of hospital-level care that have conditions with well-defined treatment protocols, such as pneumonia, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes or cellulitis.

Patients are consistently connected to their care team through a combination of in-person visits, video visits and continuous biometric monitoring via telehealth technologies. When health professionals visit the patient, they can provide a wide array of services including diagnostic studies, treatments and therapies that normally could only be delivered at a hospital.