Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Is home hospital care the way forward?

Satya Moolani
Conditions
January 22, 2022
Share
Tweet
Share

“There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort,” says James Austen. So, instead of traveling and waiting for hours by standing in a queue, what if health care is provided to you at home? That’s why home hospital care (HHC) is a viable solution for physicians and patients. HHC is an innovative, technologically advanced, and effective care model in which certain patients receive hospital-level care at their homes compared to traditional hospitalization. HHC is an effective model regarding patient care experience, population health outcomes, and treatment cost.

The benefits of home hospital care

HHC provides treatment and care facilities to patients selected for the program through an eligibility criterion. These programs offer certain facilities that different patients require, including intravenous medications, respiratory therapies, blood tests, remote monitoring of heart rate, temperature, and respiratory rate. All these can be monitored virtually in a patient’s home.

It’s cost-effective

The Johns Hopkins Model of Home Hospital Care has shown that the cost of treatment in this model is 32 percent less than traditional hospitalizations ($5,081 vs. $7,480). Moreover, the mean length of stay was also shorter, about one-third of the hospital stay, and lesser possibilities of delirium. More than a quarter of the US retired citizens suggest that health care expenses have hurt their retirement.

Controlling the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an immense crisis in hospitals worldwide. This is on top of the growing population of baby boomers, increasing the demand for hospital facilities. The simplest and effective solution in such crises is to utilize the HHC model without spending a significant amount on constructing new infrastructure for patients. In such a dilemma, HHC can decrease the burden on hospitals as well as limit the extra shifts that physicians, nurses, and health care staff may have to take.

Increased patient satisfaction

HHC has a considerable impact on patient satisfaction because there is no pressure of any kind. The patient can be surrounded by their loved ones, including family and friends, and be treated at the same time without getting admitted to the hospital. At Presbyterian Healthcare Services, patient satisfaction at HHC was 90.7 on average, more significant than 83.9 at hospitalized care. Similar feedback has been seen all over the globe.

Patient-centered approach with better quality

HHC is a patient-centered approach in which respectful and responsive care is provided to the patient’s preferences. Participants in a workshop on health care regarded HHC as “around the kitchen table,” which means health care decisions and management is carried out right in front of the patient’s families at their doorstep. Moreover, the quality of care in HHC is comparable to hospitals.

Better wound management without hospital visits

Almost one-third of patients in HHC require wound care and management, of which more than 40 percent of patients suffer from multiple or compound wounds. Recent studies have shown that home hospital nurses can accurately identify and manage wounds efficiently (88 percent). Different means of communication are utilized to improve the efficacy; telemedicine is one of the effective methods to communicate with nurses of health care workers providing home care to the patients. The use of telemedicine has increased healing rate, decreased healing time, and lessened hospitalization of wound patients.

Decreased patient falls and hospital readmissions

ADVERTISEMENT

Although hospitals have trained staff and health care workers, the number of falls after surgery or an illness is quite common. HHC can help decrease patient falls by allowing the patient’s family to play their part in patient management.

Hospitals are doubtlessly blessings, but so are our homes. Due to the continuous exponential population growth and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals are under an immense crisis, thus, making it difficult to adjust and admit patients suffering from chronic illness.

One significant advantage of HHC is that there is limited psychological stress related to the hospital to the patient, which escalates the recovery process.

Moreover, HHC limits the chances of complications of sedatives, anesthesia, delirium, and restraints compared to a hospital. Hospital administrators, physicians, nurses, and health care workers should consider the HHC model to lessen the overcrowding of hospitals and improve health outcomes overall.

Satya Moolani is a premedical student.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

The new rules of time management

January 22, 2022 Kevin 0
…
Next

Telemedicine exhaustion is real

January 22, 2022 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Geriatrics, Hospital-Based Medicine

Post navigation

< Previous Post
The new rules of time management
Next Post >
Telemedicine exhaustion is real

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Satya Moolani

  • The value of intergenerational relationships

    Satya Moolani

Related Posts

  • Don’t judge when trainees use dating apps in the hospital

    Austin Perlmutter, MD
  • Are hospital CEOs responding to the realities of health care?

    Ammura Hernandez, MD
  • The dark horse of the care team: a parent’s perspective on hospital chaplains

    Laura Spiegel
  • How social media can help or hurt your health care career

    Health eCareers
  • What charity care patients get big hospital bills

    Jordan Rau
  • Why health care replaced physician care

    Michael Weiss, MD

More in Conditions

  • Pain control failures in fertility clinics

    Maire Daugharty, MD
  • Why what you do in midlife matters most

    Michael Pessman
  • Was Viagra the best heart drug we never had?

    Bharat Desai, MD
  • How to stay safe from back-to-school illnesses

    Kevin King, PhD
  • The infectious hypothesis of heart disease revisited

    Larry Kaskel, MD
  • How timing affects chemical exposure risks

    Oluyemisi Famuyiwa, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • A doctor’s letter from a federal prison

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are losing the health care culture war

      Rusha Modi, MD, MPH | Policy
    • The hypocrisy of insurance referral mandates

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • A cancer doctor’s warning about the future of medicine

      Banu Symington, MD | Physician
    • Pain control failures in fertility clinics

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • How therapy helps uncover hidden patterns that shape our lives [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Rethinking the JUPITER trial and statin safety

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • The ignored clinical trials on statins and mortality

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • How one physician redesigned her practice to find joy in primary care again [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • I passed my medical boards at 63. And no, I was not having a midlife crisis.

      Rajeev Khanna, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors must fight for a just health care system

      Alankrita Olson, MD, MPH & Ashley Duhon, MD & Toby Terwilliger, MD | Policy
    • The silent disease causing 400 amputations daily

      Xzabia Caliste, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Pain control failures in fertility clinics

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • Why what you do in midlife matters most

      Michael Pessman | Conditions
    • When language barriers become a medical emergency

      Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed | Physician
    • A sibling’s guide to surviving medical school

      Chuka Onuh and Ogechukwu Onuh, MD | Education
    • Ending monopolies is the first step toward true health care reform [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Was Viagra the best heart drug we never had?

      Bharat Desai, MD | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • A doctor’s letter from a federal prison

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are losing the health care culture war

      Rusha Modi, MD, MPH | Policy
    • The hypocrisy of insurance referral mandates

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • A cancer doctor’s warning about the future of medicine

      Banu Symington, MD | Physician
    • Pain control failures in fertility clinics

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • How therapy helps uncover hidden patterns that shape our lives [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Rethinking the JUPITER trial and statin safety

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • The ignored clinical trials on statins and mortality

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • How one physician redesigned her practice to find joy in primary care again [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • I passed my medical boards at 63. And no, I was not having a midlife crisis.

      Rajeev Khanna, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors must fight for a just health care system

      Alankrita Olson, MD, MPH & Ashley Duhon, MD & Toby Terwilliger, MD | Policy
    • The silent disease causing 400 amputations daily

      Xzabia Caliste, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Pain control failures in fertility clinics

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • Why what you do in midlife matters most

      Michael Pessman | Conditions
    • When language barriers become a medical emergency

      Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed | Physician
    • A sibling’s guide to surviving medical school

      Chuka Onuh and Ogechukwu Onuh, MD | Education
    • Ending monopolies is the first step toward true health care reform [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Was Viagra the best heart drug we never had?

      Bharat Desai, MD | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...