New York Times Article: Your Next Hospital Bed Might Be at Home
The New York Times Magazine has published an article, "Your Next Hospital Bed Might Be at Home," that highlights the Hospital at Home program and the impact it has for older adults, caregivers and clinicians.
The writer talks about the lack of hospital beds in the current American health system and how the pandemic exacerbated the issue, and says that older patients in particular can benefit from an alternative to traditional hospital care. The in-depth article describes in detail hospital at home visits and talks about Dr. Bruce Leff, M.D., geriatrician and professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 2005 Annals of Internal Medicine paper about a pilot trial he conducted with support from The John A. Hartford Foundation and the leadership at Johns Hopkins. The pilot study, "hospitalized patients in their own homes who were at least 65 and had been given one of a few straightforward diagnoses: a worsening of their heart failure, or emphysema, pneumonia or a bad skin infection. These patients did so well that Leff tried to spread the word by calling hospital leaders."
Obstacles impeding Dr. Leff and other hospital-at-home advocates from expanding further are highlighted. Dr. Leff and his colleagues formed the Hospital at Home Users Group, among other efforts. The biggest catalyst was the pandemic and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver which temporarily allowed hospitals to treat patients in their own residences. "Today more than 110 health systems, amounting to some 260 hospitals - or about 5 percent of the country’s total - have obtained the waiver."
Learn more about Hospital at Home (HaH) and HaH Users Group.
Learn more about JAHF's support of HaH.
