Hospital Care at Home in the U.S.

Although acute hospital care at home (AHCaH) is supported by at least one small, randomized trial, experience with the practice has been limited (NEJM JW Gen Med Jan 15 2020 and Ann Intern Med 2020; 172:77). In November 2020, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a waiver to allow hospitals to deliver AHCaH, effectively expanding hospital capacity at >300 hospitals. Investigators used Medicare fee-for-service Part A claims to report characteristics of and outcomes for more than 5000 patients (mean age, 75) who received AHCaH from July 2022 to June 2023. Patients were admitted to AHCaH from emergency departments or after initial inpatient hospital treatment.

Common diagnoses for patients who received AHCaH were hear…