Hospital care is notoriously expensive and potentially risky for older adults. There is interest in the home-hospital concept where acute services are provided in a patient’s home, with the hope of improving the patient experience and reducing costs, while maintaining quality care. A small study published in the May issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine shows early evidence that use of home-hospital care does in fact cut costs, benefits the patient experience, and maintains quality of care. While optimal patient selection is important, the model cuts costs due to decreased utilization of services, including a significant decline in laboratory testing, compared to similar patients cared for in the hospital. Nine patients were randomized to home hospitalization and 11 to usual hospital care for the treatment of infection or exacerbation of heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or asthma, following an emergency room visit. The home hospital care intervention included two daily nurse visits, one daily physician home visit, intravenous medications, continuous monitoring for heart rate, respiratory rate, telemetry, movement, falls, and sleep via a small skin patch, video communication, and point-of-care blood testing. The researchers found that there were no adverse safety events and no transfers back to […]