Hospital at home program provides good outcomes and patient satisfaction, study finds

The program in Albuquerque also lowered costs while providing some patients acute care at home.

Politico Pro: Hospital At Home Adopted In New Mexico
Very sick patients given hospital-level care in their homes through a New Mexico integrated health care system had as good or better outcomes, higher satisfaction and lower costs than similar patients in a traditional inpatient hospital setting, according to a study published in Health Affairs on Monday. Presbyterian Healthcare Services in Albuquerque adapted the Hospital at Home model developed at Johns Hopkins, which includes daily doctor visits and nursing visits at least once a day, to patients getting hospital-level acute care at home (Kenen, 6/4).

Modern Healthcare: Advanced Home Health Model Yields Savings, Study Finds
An advanced form of home health care offered by Presbyterian Healthcare Services, Albuquerque, N.M., provided care that was 19 percent less than the cost for similar inpatients, while clinical outcomes were comparable or better, according to a study published in the June issue of Health Affairs. Most of the savings came from the 323 home health care patients in the study having lower average length of stays and lower use of clinical testing than the 1,048 inpatients studied (Barr, 6/4).

Kaiser Health News: To Curb Spending On Elderly, Hospitals Try New Business Models
Believe it or not, there is a silver lining to the massive storm cloud that is Medicare's spiraling health care costs. … But the silver lining is that the problem's gravity is inspiring many doctors, researchers and hospital administrators to conjure outside-the-box business models that could rein in these costs" (Schultz, 6/4).

Baltimore Sun: Treating Patients At Home May Be Cheaper, Better
A program that allows patients to be treated at home instead of the hospital can improve care and satisfaction, new research from Johns Hopkins shows. The model called Hospital at Home reduced costs by roughly 20 percent and had equal or better outcomes among patients in New Mexico who participated in a study, published in the June issue of Health Affairs (Cohn, 6/4).

See related Kaiser Health News story: Some Patients Can Choose To Be Hospitalized At Home