- “Hospital at home” programs skyrocket as more patients feel safer when receiving medical treatment at home instead of in a hospital or doctor’s office, the Associated Press reported.
- Patients who are acutely ill with conditions such as heart conditions, diabetes, or even COVID-19 can use these programs to be treated at home.
- Portable medical equipment has made the exercise more practical.
- In countries that use these programs regularly, treatment is cheaper and more successful for patients, the Common Wealth Fund found.
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Because many across the country are concerned about the risk of COVID-19 in a health care facility, they will choose to receive medical treatment at home, the Associated Press reported.
Patients who are acutely ill from heart conditions, diabetes, or even mild cases of COVID-19 can use these services at home to receive care instead of going to a hospital.
Thanks to modern technology and portable medical devices, the programs have become more accessible.
The Common Wealth Fund reported that the practice, although not as common in the US as in other countries, can cut costs by 30% and be safer for patients at risk.
Home hospital programs enabling patients to receive hospital-level care in the comfort of their own homes have flourished in countries with single-pay healthcare systems, but their use in the U.S. is limited – despite compelling evidence that well-controlled “On-home care can be safer, cheaper, and more effective than traditional hospital care, especially for patients who are vulnerable to hospital-acquired infections and other outpatient complications,” the report said.
According to the AP, patients opting for home care are linked to video command centers and surveillance devices that can pass on information about their vital signs, and provide access to medical professionals.
“I would heartily recommend it to anyone to stay home,” said William Merry, who received pneumonia care in July in his Ipswich, Massachusetts, home of the AP. “There was never a problem. Never.”
The AP reported that although it is unclear how many of these home health programs exist in the US, many hospitals that provide their services expanded them during the pandemic to be able to meet requirements when patients with coronavirus hospitals met.
In addition, independent medical companies that provide similar services have since expanded to provide more home care services. For example, DispatchHealth, which previously focused on sending paramedics to homes to perform diagnostic tests or provide medicines to prevent emergency room visits, now says it has more than 200 contracts with insurers to take seriously ill patients home treat.
However, while the sector is growing amid the pandemic, its survival depends on whether insurers, both private and public, continue to finance it.
“I think most hospitals go back to normal,” said Bruce Leff, a geriatrics professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a pioneer of hospitals at the AP about what would happen if the practice was not treated.
