Hospital at home: A change in the course of care

Abstract

Acute care services in the United States are largely delivered in the hospital setting. Since the recent pandemic, acute care services in the hospital have become overwhelmed. An elderly population with comorbidities and lack of hospital capacity is leading to a “hospital without walls” approach to acute care. Hospital at Home (HaH) is a paradigm shift in the standard way to administer acute care. Model development coupled with innovations in telehealth and remote patient monitoring has led to HaH being considered a viable alternative to admitting patients to the hospital. Robust evidence suggests that HaH interventions are a new option for providers to assess, treat, and monitor patients. Outcomes equivalent to in-patient stays with no mortality difference makes this model a viable option for patient care outside of the hospital. An overall reduction in cost compared with an in-patient stay may be an economically viable option for overwhelmed hospital systems looking to care for their surrounding population. In this brief, we review some of the existing evidence and the growth of the HaH concept, and what it means for members of the interdisciplinary care team.