Health Systems Advocate for Continued Hospital-at-Home Care Delivery

Virtual care technology enables hospitals to care for patients from the home, decreasing hospital capacity and instances of patient isolation. After two years of shifting care models to meet patients in their home, some of the top healthcare organizations are advocating to continue reimbursement for hospital-level home care. In February, more than 15 U.S. healthcare providers formed the Advanced Care at Home Coalition to push the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for a care model that focuses on at-home care.

The coalition is compiling best practices, and points out that costs, comfort and improved care make their case for more robust home-based care. For example, a study by the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that the cost of care for at-home patients is nearly half that of hospitalized patients.

“Advanced-care-at-home programs are based on a growing body of evidence that show patients are more satisfied with their care and family stress is reduced,” says Dr. Stephen Parodi, associate executive director, The Permanente Medical Group at coalition member Kaiser Permanente. “Patient functional mobility and activity tends to be higher, and quality outcomes are the same or better than being in a hospital.”