Hospital care at home appears to be quite safe and of high quality, according to experts. A new study has found that people receiving hospital care at home tend to do at least as well as if they had been admitted to a hospital for medical care.
Patients who receive hospital care at home have low mortality rates and are not likely to suffer a setback that requires a quick return to the emergency room, according to the study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Dr. David Michael Levine, clinical director of research and development of Mass General Brigham’s Healthcare at Home program, stated that “hospital care at home appears to be quite safe and of high quality: you live longer, you are readmitted less frequently, and you have fewer adverse events.”
Hospital-level home care became available to Medicare patients in 2020, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Acute Hospital Home Care Waiver Initiative. Since then, thousands of patients at 300 Medicare-certified hospitals in 37 states have been treated at home instead of in the hospital.
Levine cites several reasons why hospital care is better at home, including patients having an easier transition when their hospitalization ends and healthcare professionals being able to gain insight into their lives. The study also found that outcomes from home hospital care did not differ based on a person’s race or ethnicity, or whether they were disabled.
The findings were published on January 8 and more information can be found at the American Hospital Association.