Home Hospital increased in-patient capacity during the COVID-19 surge

EurekAlert! Home Hospital increased in-patient capacity during the COVID-19 surge

A research team from Brigham and Women’s Hospital has found that delivering acute care at home for non-COVID patients freed up substantial inpatient capacity during the COVID-19 surge last spring. From March 15, 2020, when Massachusetts’ state of emergency restrictions took effect, until the surge ended on June 18, 2020 (defined as less than 30 patients hospitalized with COVID-19), the Brigham’s Home Hospital program provided care for 65 acutely ill patients at home, amounting to 419 bed-days. Levine added that since the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services created a temporary payment mechanism for home hospital in November 2020, programs have rapidly grown across the U.S., with more than 145 hospitals taking up the model.