Julie Appleby reports for Kaiser Health News that, down the road, a lot of hospital care may be able to happen in the comfort of your home. Already, Medicare pays for some hospital care at home. And, many hospitals are exploring how to move a lot of inpatient hospital care to people’s homes.
Hospitals would be able to serve more patients. To some extent, they would be able to do so virtually. And, they would save money on capital costs. Insurers would not have to spend as much on care, so it should bring costs down, though it is not clear by how much.
- Who would benefit? As many as three in ten hospital patients. People with pneumonia, heart failure and other non-acute conditions. People needing surgery or care in an intensive care unit (ICU) would continue to receive care in hospital.
- How would it work? People would be monitored around the clock, remotely. Health care professionals would visit them as needed.
- Who would see patients at home? Hospitals would need a large number of nurses, paramedics and technicians.
- Is hospital care at home as safe as hospital care in hospital? Many experts believe it is. In fact, they believe it can improve health outcomes. It can reduce the need for hospital readmissions and nursing home care.
- What would the ideal home setting be? Most likely, patients would need a full-time caregiver at home with them to provide needed caregiving help, along with the ability to be in a private setting. Hospitals could provide aides to help with bathing etc.
- Would every hospital provide care at home? Likely not. Some hospitals would want to fill their inpatient beds in order to maximize their revenues.
Medicare started paying for hospital care at home in November. It wanted to protect older adults with non-COVID conditions from contracting COVID-19 in hospital. To date, Medicare is paying 100 hospitals to provide care at home.
That said, Medicare coverage of hospital care at home will end when the pandemic is over. And, Medicare has been paying the same rate for hospital care at home as it pays for hospital care in-hospital. If Medicare continued covering this care, it’s hard to imagine it would keep paying current hospital rates.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Coronavirus: Medicare covers hospital care at home
- New law prevents doctors and hospitals from sending patients surprise medical bills
- Coronavirus: Hospitals sue patients to collect payment
- Seven things to do before you or someone you love leaves the hospital
- Most people choose traditional Medicare over Medicare Advantage
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