Introduction - Hospital-at-home programs enable patients to receive acute care in their home environment. These programs have proliferated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and.
Hospital-at-home advocates often highlight how the care modality improves the patient experience and allows hospitals to better manage capacity. There are other key benefits such as protecting patients from hospital-acquired infections and improving caregiver's job satisfaction that should be brought into the conversation as well, hospital executives say.
The length of stay for adult inpatients is expected to rise by 8% over the next decade, driven by an increase in chronic conditions, according to a report released Tuesday by Vizient. The rise in acuity will exacerbate hospitals’ capacity constraints, so they may need to rethink their care delivery models and make investments in at-home care.
During the darkest days of the pandemic, more than 200 hospitals and health systems in 34 states arranged for many people who might normally have been admitted into hospitals to receive care instead in their homes.