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Kowalkowski M, Stephens C, Hetherington T, Nguyen H, Bundy H, Isreal M, Hole C, Sunkara P, Nagaraj R, Sitammagari K, Knight M, Marston S, Palmer P, McWilliams A, Murphy S. Effectiveness of a Multifaceted Implementation Strategy to Increase Equitable Hospital at Home Utilization: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis. J Gen Intern Med 2024:10.1007/s11606-024-08931-3. [PMID: 38981943 DOI: 10.1007/s11606-024-08931-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2024] [Accepted: 06/28/2024] [Indexed: 07/11/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The number of Hospital-at-Home (HaH) programs rapidly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and after issuance of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCaH) waiver. However, there remains little evidence on effective strategies to equitably expand HaH utilization. OBJECTIVE Evaluate the effects of a multifaceted implementation strategy on HaH utilization over time. DESIGN Before and after implementation evaluation using electronic health record (EHR) data and interrupted time series analysis, complemented by qualitative interviews with key stakeholders. PARTICIPANTS Between December 2021 and December 2022, we identified adults hospitalized at six hospitals in North Carolina approved by CMS to participate in the AHCaH waiver program. Eligible adults met criteria for HaH transfer (HaH-eligible clinical condition, qualifying home environment). We conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 HaH patients and 10 referring clinicians. INTERVENTIONS Two strategies were studied. The discrete implementation strategy (weeks 1-12) included clinician-directed educational outreach. The multifaceted implementation strategy (weeks 13-54) included ongoing clinician-directed educational outreach, local HaH assistance via nurse navigators, involvement of clinical service line executives, and individualized audit and feedback. MEASURES We assessed weekly averaged HaH capacity utilization, weekly counts of unique referring providers, and patient characteristics. We analyzed themes from qualitative data to determine barriers and facilitators to HaH use. RESULTS Our evaluation showed week-to-week increases in HaH capacity utilization during the multifaceted implementation strategy period, compared to discrete-period trends (slope-change odds ratio-1.02, 1.01-1.04). Counts of referring providers also increased week to week, compared to discrete-period trends (slope-change means ratio-1.05, 1.03-1.07). The increase in HaH utilization was largest among rural residents (11 to 34%). Barriers included HaH-related information gaps and referral challenges; facilitators included patient-centeredness of HaH care. CONCLUSIONS A multifaceted implementation strategy was associated with increased HaH capacity utilization, provider adoption, and patient diversity. Health systems may consider similar, contextually relevant multicomponent approaches to equitably expand HaH.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Kowalkowski
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Hospital Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
- Center for Health System Sciences, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC, USA.
| | - Casey Stephens
- Center for Health System Sciences, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | | | - Hieu Nguyen
- Center for Health System Sciences, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | - Henry Bundy
- Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - McKenzie Isreal
- Center for Health System Sciences, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | - Colleen Hole
- Population Health, Clinical Integration, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | - Padageshwar Sunkara
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Hospital Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Raghava Nagaraj
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Hospital Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Kranthi Sitammagari
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | | | | | - Pooja Palmer
- Division of Community and Social Impact, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | - Andrew McWilliams
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC, USA
- Information Technology, Medical Informatics, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | - Stephanie Murphy
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC, USA
- Medically Home Group, Inc., Boston, MA, USA
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Levine AA, Shin MH, Adjognon OL, Engle RL, Sullivan JL. Overcoming barriers to implementation: mapping implementation strategies in four hospital in home programs within the Veterans Health Administration. Home Health Care Serv Q 2024; 43:173-190. [PMID: 38174378 DOI: 10.1080/01621424.2023.2301413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
The Hospital at Home model, called Hospital-in-Home (HIH) in the Department of Veterans Affairs, delivers coordinated, high-value care aligned with older adult and caregiver preferences. Documenting implementation barriers and corresponding strategies to overcome them can address challenges to widespread adoption. To evaluate HIH implementation barriers and identify strategies to address them, we conducted interviews with 8 HIH staff at 4 hospitals between 2010 and 2013. We utilized qualitative directed content analysis guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) and mapped identified barriers to possible strategies using the CFIR-Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) Matching Tool. We identified 11 barriers spanning 5 CFIR domains. Three implementation strategies - identifying and preparing champions, conducting educational meetings, and capturing and sharing local knowledge - achieved high expert endorsement for each barrier. A mix of strategies targeting resources, organizational readiness and fit, and leadership engagement should be considered to support the sustainability and spread of HIH.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Alex Levine
- Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Marlena H Shin
- Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, VA Boston Healthcare System, West Roxbury, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Omonyele L Adjognon
- Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, VA Boston Healthcare System, West Roxbury, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Ryann L Engle
- Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, VA Boston Healthcare System, West Roxbury, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jennifer L Sullivan
- COIN LTSS, Center of Innovation in Long-Term Services and Supports for Vulnerable Veterans, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
- Department of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, West Roxbury, Massachusetts, USA
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Aasen L, Werner A, Ruud Knutsen I, Johannessen AK. Collaboration between professionals in primary and secondary healthcare services about hospital-at-home for children: A focus group study from the perspectives of stakeholders. J Interprof Care 2024:1-9. [PMID: 38940630 DOI: 10.1080/13561820.2024.2371353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024]
Abstract
Collaboration among healthcare providers is regarded as a promising method to improve care quality and patient outcomes with limited human and financial resources. In Norway, "hospital-at-home" refers to care given by teams from the hospital pediatric wards who provide treatment and care in the family's home. When children need home visits multiple times daily, the hospital-at-home often reaches out to municipality healthcare providers, asking them to share this task. We aimed to explore the collaboration between stakeholders to gain knowledge on matters concerning the transfer of pediatric competence between hospital and home-based care, and to gain insight into how to set up the service for children in the future. We conducted three focus group interviews. The results showed that managing hospital-at-home collaboratively came with various challenges concerning unclear responsibilities between hospitals and homecare services and several obstacles to setting up cooperation across service levels. Thus, positive collaboration experiences between hospital and homecare settings were shared. Formalizing this collaboration was considered important for future collaboration. Building competence and learning from and with each other ensures better conditions for success if the collaboration is organized and facilitated through agreements between the hospital and the municipalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Line Aasen
- Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
| | - Anne Werner
- Health Services Research Unit, Akershus University Hospital, (Ahus), Lørenskog, Norway
| | - Ingrid Ruud Knutsen
- Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
| | - Anne-Kari Johannessen
- Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
- Health Services Research Unit, Akershus University Hospital, (Ahus), Lørenskog, Norway
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Lin L, Cheng M, Guo Y, Cao X, Tang W, Xu X, Cheng W, Xu Z. Early discharge hospital at home as alternative to routine hospital care for older people: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Med 2024; 22:250. [PMID: 38886793 PMCID: PMC11184809 DOI: 10.1186/s12916-024-03463-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The global population of adults aged 60 and above surpassed 1 billion in 2020, constituting 13.5% of the global populace. Projections indicate a rise to 2.1 billion by 2050. While Hospital-at-Home (HaH) programs have emerged as a promising alternative to traditional routine hospital care, showing initial benefits in metrics such as lower mortality rates, reduced readmission rates, shorter treatment durations, and improved mental and functional status among older individuals, the robustness and magnitude of these effects relative to conventional hospital settings call for further validation through a comprehensive meta-analysis. METHODS A comprehensive literature search was executed during April-June 2023, across PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) to include both RCT and non-RCT HaH studies. Statistical analyses were conducted using Review Manager (version 5.4), with Forest plots and I2 statistics employed to detect inter-study heterogeneity. For I2 > 50%, indicative of substantial heterogeneity among the included studies, we employed the random-effects model to account for the variability. For I2 ≤ 50%, we used the fixed effects model. Subgroup analyses were conducted in patients with different health conditions, including cancer, acute medical conditions, chronic medical conditions, orthopedic issues, and medically complex conditions. RESULTS Fifteen trials were included in this systematic review, including 7 RCTs and 8 non-RCTs. Outcome measures include mortality, readmission rates, treatment duration, functional status (measured by the Barthel index), and mental status (measured by MMSE). Results suggest that early discharge HaH is linked to decreased mortality, albeit supported by low-certainty evidence across 13 studies. It also shortens the length of treatment, corroborated by seven trials. However, its impact on readmission rates and mental status remains inconclusive, supported by nine and two trials respectively. Functional status, gauged by the Barthel index, indicated potential decline with early discharge HaH, according to four trials. Subgroup analyses reveal similar trends. CONCLUSIONS While early discharge HaH shows promise in specific metrics like mortality and treatment duration, its utility is ambiguous in the contexts of readmission, mental status, and functional status, necessitating cautious interpretation of findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lulu Lin
- School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Mengyuan Cheng
- Institute for Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Application, Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, Guangzhou, China
- Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yawei Guo
- School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaowen Cao
- Institute for Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Application, Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, Guangzhou, China
| | - Weiming Tang
- Institute for Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Application, Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, Guangzhou, China
- Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at ChapelHill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Xin Xu
- School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Weibin Cheng
- Institute for Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Application, Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, Guangzhou, China.
- School of Data Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
- Faculty of Health Sciences, City University of Macau, Macao SAR, China.
| | - Zhongzhi Xu
- School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
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Correia Azevedo P, Rei C, Grande R, Saraiva M, Guede-Fernández F, Oliosi E, Londral A. Assessment of the Impact of Home-Based Hospitalization on Health Outcomes: An Observational Study. ACTA MEDICA PORT 2024; 37:445-454. [PMID: 38848706 DOI: 10.20344/amp.20474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION In Portugal, evidence of clinical outcomes within home-based hospitalization programs remains limited. Despite the adoption of homebased hospitalization services, it is still unclear whether these services represent an effective way to manage patients compared with inpatient hospital care. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of home-based hospitalization compared with conventional hospitalization in a group of patients with a primary diagnosis of infectious, cardiovascular, oncological, or 'other' diseases. METHODS An observational retrospective study using anonymized administrative data to investigate the outcomes of home-based hospitalization (n = 209) and conventional hospitalization (n = 192) for 401 Portuguese patients admitted to CUF hospitals (Tejo, Cascais, Sintra, Descobertas, and the Unidade de Hospitalização Domiciliária CUF Lisboa). Data on demographics and clinical outcomes, including Barthel index, Braden scale, Morse scale, mortality, and length of hospital stay, were collected. The statistical analysis included comparison tests and logistic regression. RESULTS The study found no statistically significant differences between patients' admission and discharge for the Barthel index, Braden scale, and Morse scale scores, for both conventional and home-based hospitalizations. In addition, no statistically significant differences were found in the length of stay between conventional and home-based hospitalization, although patients diagnosed with infectious diseases had a longer stay than patients with other conditions. Although the mortality rate was higher in home-based hospitalization compared to conventional hospitalization, the mortality risk index (higher in home-based hospitalization) assessed at admission was a more important predictor of death than the type of hospitalization. CONCLUSION The study found that there were no significant differences in outcomes between conventional and home-based hospitalization. Home-based hospitalization was found to be a valuable aspect of patient- and family-centered care. However, it is noteworthy that patients with infectious diseases experienced longer hospital stays.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cátia Rei
- Unidade de Hospitalização Domiciliária. CUF. Lisbon. Portugal
| | - Rui Grande
- Unidade de Hospitalização Domiciliária. CUF. Lisbon. Portugal
| | - Mariana Saraiva
- Unidade de Hospitalização Domiciliária. CUF. Lisbon. Portugal
| | - Federico Guede-Fernández
- Value for Health CoLAB. Lisbon; Laboratory for Instrumentation, Biomedical Engineering and Radiation Physics (LIBPhys). NOVA School of Science and Technology. Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. Lisbon. Portugal
| | - Eduarda Oliosi
- Value for Health CoLAB. Lisbon; Laboratory for Instrumentation, Biomedical Engineering and Radiation Physics (LIBPhys). NOVA School of Science and Technology. Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. Lisbon. Portugal
| | - Ana Londral
- Value for Health CoLAB. Lisbon; Comprehensive Health Research Center (CHRC). NOVA Medical School. Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. Lisbon. Portugal
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Aggarwal K, Singh B, Banker H, Stoltzfus MT, Hong J, Anamika F, Nishkamni F, Munjal J, Jain R. Exploring the Ramifications of Delayed Hospital Discharges: Impacts on Patients, Physicians, and Healthcare Systems. Cureus 2024; 16:e61249. [PMID: 38939266 PMCID: PMC11210572 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.61249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Prolonged hospital stays can significantly impede patients' recovery, negatively affecting anything from physical health via issues like hospital-acquired infections and increased complications due to immobility to psychological health. Several studies investigated the psychosocial impact of prolonged hospital stays, revealing a variety of patient perspectives, such as feeling uncertain and frustrated about their conditions, which can erode their trust in healthcare providers. Delayed discharges not only affect patients but also have multifaceted effects on healthcare providers, potentially reducing physician efficiency and contributing to higher rates of burnout among healthcare professionals. This article investigates the consequences of delayed versus early discharge on physicians, patients, and the overall hospital system. We conducted an extensive search through PubMed and Google Scholar using the keywords "delayed discharge," "hospital discharge," and "bed blocking" to identify all the recent studies highlighting the dynamics of patient discharge. Our results support the hypothesis that reducing delayed discharge rates will not only improve patient outcomes but also have widespread fiscal impacts. This review also outlines measures to reduce delayed discharges, ultimately leading to a significant enhancement in the healthcare system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kanishk Aggarwal
- Internal Medicine, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, IND
| | - Bhupinder Singh
- Internal Medicine, Government Medical College, Amritsar, IND
| | - Himanshi Banker
- Medicine and Surgery, Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi, IND
| | - Mason T Stoltzfus
- Neurosurgery, Penn State University College of Medicine, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, USA
| | - Jinpyo Hong
- Neurosurgery, Penn State University College of Medicine, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, USA
| | - Fnu Anamika
- Internal Medicine, University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi, IND
| | - Fnu Nishkamni
- Internal Medicine, Government Medical College, Jammu, IND
| | - Jaskaran Munjal
- Internal Medicine, Shri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, IND
| | - Rohit Jain
- Internal Medicine, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, USA
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Liu Y, Du S, Liu C, Xue T, Tang Y. Preference of primary care patients for home-based healthcare and support services: a discrete choice experiment in China. Front Public Health 2024; 12:1324776. [PMID: 38699415 PMCID: PMC11063295 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1324776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Importance This research, utilizing discrete choice experiments, examines the preferences and willingness to pay for home-based healthcare and support services among residents in China, a country grappling with severe aging population, an area often underexplored in international scholarship. Objectives This study aims to solicit the preferences of primary care patients for home-based healthcare and support services in China. Design setting and participants A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted on 312 primary care patients recruited from 13 community health centers in Wuhan and Kunming between January and May 2023. The experimental choice sets were generated using NGene, covering five attributes: Scope of services, health professionals, institutions, insurance reimbursements, and visiting fees. Main outcomes and measures The choice sets were further divided into three blocks, and each participant was asked to complete one block containing 12 choice tasks. Mixed logit models were established to estimate the relevant importance coefficients of and willingness to pay for different choices, while Latent Class Logit (LCL) modeling was conducted to capture possible preferences heterogeneity. Results The relevant importance of the scope of services reached 67.33%, compared with 19.84% for service institutions and 12.42% for health professionals. Overall, respondents preferred physician-led diagnostic and treatment services. LCL categorized the respondents into three groups: Group one (60.20%) was most concerned about the scope of services, prioritizing disease diagnosis and treatment over preventive care and mental health, while group two (16.60%) was most concerned about care providers (hospitals and medical doctors were preferred), and group three (23.20%) was most concerned about financial burdens. Conclusion Primary care patients prefer physical health and medical interventions for home-based healthcare and support services. However, heterogeneity in preferences is evident, indicating potential disparities in healthcare and support at home services in China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaqing Liu
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Sixian Du
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Chaojie Liu
- Department of Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Tianqin Xue
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Yuqing Tang
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
- Key Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences of Hubei Provincial Department of Education, Wuhan, Hubei, China
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Shi C, Dumville J, Rubinstein F, Norman G, Ullah A, Bashir S, Bower P, Vardy ERLC. Inpatient-level care at home delivered by virtual wards and hospital at home: a systematic review and meta-analysis of complex interventions and their components. BMC Med 2024; 22:145. [PMID: 38561754 PMCID: PMC10986022 DOI: 10.1186/s12916-024-03312-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Technology-enabled inpatient-level care at home services, such as virtual wards and hospital at home, are being rapidly implemented. This is the first systematic review to link the components of these service delivery innovations to evidence of effectiveness to explore implications for practice and research. METHODS For this review (registered here https://osf.io/je39y ), we searched Cochrane-recommended multiple databases up to 30 November 2022 and additional resources for randomised and non-randomised studies that compared technology-enabled inpatient-level care at home with hospital-based inpatient care. We classified interventions into care model groups using three key components: clinical activities, workforce, and technology. We synthesised evidence by these groups quantitatively or narratively for mortality, hospital readmissions, cost-effectiveness and length of stay. RESULTS We include 69 studies: 38 randomised studies (6413 participants; largely judged as low or unclear risk of bias) and 31 non-randomised studies (31,950 participants; largely judged at serious or critical risk of bias). The 69 studies described 63 interventions which formed eight model groups. Most models, regardless of using low- or high-intensity technology, may have similar or reduced hospital readmission risk compared with hospital-based inpatient care (low-certainty evidence from randomised trials). For mortality, most models had uncertain or unavailable evidence. Two exceptions were low technology-enabled models that involve hospital- and community-based professionals, they may have similar mortality risk compared with hospital-based inpatient care (low- or moderate-certainty evidence from randomised trials). Cost-effectiveness evidence is unavailable for high technology-enabled models, but sparse evidence suggests the low technology-enabled multidisciplinary care delivered by hospital-based teams appears more cost-effective than hospital-based care for those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations. CONCLUSIONS Low-certainty evidence suggests that none of technology-enabled care at home models we explored put people at higher risk of readmission compared with hospital-based care. Where limited evidence on mortality is available, there appears to be no additional risk of mortality due to use of technology-enabled at home models. It is unclear whether inpatient-level care at home using higher levels of technology confers additional benefits. Further research should focus on clearly defined interventions in high-priority populations and include comparative cost-effectiveness evaluation. TRIAL REGISTRATION https://osf.io/je39y .
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunhu Shi
- School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
- NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester (ARC-GM), Manchester, UK.
| | - Jo Dumville
- School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester (ARC-GM), Manchester, UK
| | - Fernando Rubinstein
- NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester (ARC-GM), Manchester, UK
- Centre for Primary Care and Health Services Research, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- NIHR School for Primary Care Research, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Division of Population Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Gill Norman
- School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester (ARC-GM), Manchester, UK
- Evidence Synthesis Group, Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
- NIHR Innovation Observatory, Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
| | - Akbar Ullah
- NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester (ARC-GM), Manchester, UK
- Manchester Centre for Health Economics, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Saima Bashir
- NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester (ARC-GM), Manchester, UK
- Manchester Centre for Health Economics, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Peter Bower
- NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester (ARC-GM), Manchester, UK
- Centre for Primary Care and Health Services Research, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- NIHR School for Primary Care Research, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Division of Population Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Emma R L C Vardy
- School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester (ARC-GM), Manchester, UK
- Oldham Care Organisation, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Oldham, UK
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Edgar K, Iliffe S, Doll HA, Clarke MJ, Gonçalves-Bradley DC, Wong E, Shepperd S. Admission avoidance hospital at home. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2024; 3:CD007491. [PMID: 38438116 PMCID: PMC10911897 DOI: 10.1002/14651858.cd007491.pub3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Admission avoidance hospital at home provides active treatment by healthcare professionals in the patient's home for a condition that would otherwise require acute hospital inpatient care, and always for a limited time period. This is the fourth update of this review. OBJECTIVES To determine the effectiveness and cost of managing patients with admission avoidance hospital at home compared with inpatient hospital care. SEARCH METHODS We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL on 24 February 2022, and checked the reference lists of eligible articles. We sought ongoing and unpublished studies by searching ClinicalTrials.gov and WHO ICTRP, and by contacting providers and researchers involved in the field. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised controlled trials recruiting participants aged 18 years and over. Studies comparing admission avoidance hospital at home with acute hospital inpatient care. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS We followed the standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane and the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group. We performed meta-analysis for trials that compared similar interventions, reported comparable outcomes with sufficient data, and used individual patient data when available. We used the GRADE approach to assess the certainty of the body of evidence for the most important outcomes. MAIN RESULTS We included 20 randomised controlled trials with a total of 3100 participants; four trials recruited participants with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; two trials recruited participants recovering from a stroke; seven trials recruited participants with an acute medical condition who were mainly older; and the remaining trials recruited participants with a mix of conditions. We assessed the majority of the included studies as at low risk of selection, detection, and attrition bias, and unclear for selective reporting and performance bias. For an older population, admission avoidance hospital at home probably makes little or no difference on mortality at six months' follow-up (risk ratio (RR) 0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.68 to 1.13; P = 0.30; I2 = 0%; 5 trials, 1502 participants; moderate-certainty evidence); little or no difference on the likelihood of being readmitted to hospital after discharge from hospital at home or inpatient care within 3 to 12 months' follow-up (RR 1.14, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.34; P = 0.11; I2 = 41%; 8 trials, 1757 participants; moderate-certainty evidence); and probably reduces the likelihood of living in residential care at six months' follow-up (RR 0.53, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.69; P < 0.001; I2 = 67%; 4 trials, 1271 participants; moderate-certainty evidence). Hospital at home probably results in little to no difference in patient's self-reported health status (2006 patients; moderate-certainty evidence). Satisfaction with health care received may be improved with admission avoidance hospital at home (1812 participants; low-certainty evidence); few studies reported the effect on caregivers. Hospital at home reduced the initial average hospital length of stay (2036 participants; low-certainty evidence), which ranged from 4.1 to 18.5 days in the hospital group and 1.2 to 5.1 days in the hospital at home group. Hospital at home length of stay ranged from an average of 3 to 20.7 days (hospital at home group only). Admission avoidance hospital at home probably reduces costs to the health service compared with hospital admission (2148 participants; moderate-certainty evidence), though by a range of different amounts and using different methods to cost resource use, and there is some evidence that it decreases overall societal costs to six months' follow-up. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS Admission avoidance hospital at home, with the option of transfer to hospital, may provide an effective alternative to inpatient care for a select group of older people who have been referred for hospital admission. The intervention probably makes little or no difference to patient health outcomes; may improve satisfaction; probably reduces the likelihood of relocating to residential care; and probably decreases costs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate Edgar
- Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Steve Iliffe
- Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Helen A Doll
- Clinical Outcomes Assessments, ICON Commercialisation and Outcomes, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Mike J Clarke
- Centre for Public Health, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
| | | | - Eric Wong
- St. Michael's Hospital and Unity Health Toronto, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Sasha Shepperd
- Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Wallis JA, Shepperd S, Makela P, Han JX, Tripp EM, Gearon E, Disher G, Buchbinder R, O'Connor D. Factors influencing the implementation of early discharge hospital at home and admission avoidance hospital at home: a qualitative evidence synthesis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2024; 3:CD014765. [PMID: 38438114 PMCID: PMC10911892 DOI: 10.1002/14651858.cd014765.pub2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Worldwide there is an increasing demand for Hospital at Home as an alternative to hospital admission. Although there is a growing evidence base on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Hospital at Home, health service managers, health professionals and policy makers require evidence on how to implement and sustain these services on a wider scale. OBJECTIVES (1) To identify, appraise and synthesise qualitative research evidence on the factors that influence the implementation of Admission Avoidance Hospital at Home and Early Discharge Hospital at Home, from the perspective of multiple stakeholders, including policy makers, health service managers, health professionals, patients and patients' caregivers. (2) To explore how our synthesis findings relate to, and help to explain, the findings of the Cochrane intervention reviews of Admission Avoidance Hospital at Home and Early Discharge Hospital at Home services. SEARCH METHODS We searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, Global Index Medicus and Scopus until 17 November 2022. We also applied reference checking and citation searching to identify additional studies. We searched for studies in any language. SELECTION CRITERIA We included qualitative studies and mixed-methods studies with qualitative data collection and analysis methods examining the implementation of new or existing Hospital at Home services from the perspective of different stakeholders. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two authors independently selected the studies, extracted study characteristics and intervention components, assessed the methodological limitations using the Critical Appraisal Skills Checklist (CASP) and assessed the confidence in the findings using GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research). We applied thematic synthesis to synthesise the data across studies and identify factors that may influence the implementation of Hospital at Home. MAIN RESULTS From 7535 records identified from database searches and one identified from citation tracking, we included 52 qualitative studies exploring the implementation of Hospital at Home services (31 Early Discharge, 16 Admission Avoidance, 5 combined services), across 13 countries and from the perspectives of 662 service-level staff (clinicians, managers), eight systems-level staff (commissioners, insurers), 900 patients and 417 caregivers. Overall, we judged 40 studies as having minor methodological concerns and we judged 12 studies as having major concerns. Main concerns included data collection methods (e.g. not reporting a topic guide), data analysis methods (e.g. insufficient data to support findings) and not reporting ethical approval. Following synthesis, we identified 12 findings graded as high (n = 10) and moderate (n = 2) confidence and classified them into four themes: (1) development of stakeholder relationships and systems prior to implementation, (2) processes, resources and skills required for safe and effective implementation, (3) acceptability and caregiver impacts, and (4) sustainability of services. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS Implementing Admission Avoidance and Early Discharge Hospital at Home services requires early development of policies, stakeholder engagement, efficient admission processes, effective communication and a skilled workforce to safely and effectively implement person-centred Hospital at Home, achieve acceptance by staff who refer patients to these services and ensure sustainability. Future research should focus on lower-income country and rural settings, and the perspectives of systems-level stakeholders, and explore the potential negative impact on caregivers, especially for Admission Avoidance Hospital at Home, as this service may become increasingly utilised to manage rising visits to emergency departments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason A Wallis
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
- Cabrini Health, Malvern, Australia
| | - Sasha Shepperd
- Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Petra Makela
- Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Jia Xi Han
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Evie M Tripp
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Emma Gearon
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Gary Disher
- New South Wales Ministry of Health, St Leonards, Australia
| | - Rachelle Buchbinder
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Denise O'Connor
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
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11
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Melman A, Teng MJ, Coombs DM, Li Q, Billot L, Lung T, Rogan E, Marabani M, Hutchings O, Maher CG, Machado GC. A Virtual Hospital Model of Care for Low Back Pain, Back@Home: Protocol for a Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Type-I Study. JMIR Res Protoc 2024; 13:e50146. [PMID: 38386370 PMCID: PMC10921332 DOI: 10.2196/50146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Low back pain (LBP) was the fifth most common reason for an emergency department (ED) visit in 2020-2021 in Australia, with >145,000 presentations. A total of one-third of these patients were subsequently admitted to the hospital. The admitted patient care accounts for half of the total health care expenditure on LBP in Australia. OBJECTIVE The primary aim of the Back@Home study is to assess the effectiveness of a virtual hospital model of care to reduce the length of admission in people presenting to ED with musculoskeletal LBP. A secondary aim is to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of the virtual hospital and our implementation strategy. We will also investigate rates of traditional hospital admission from the ED, representations and readmissions to the traditional hospital, demonstrate noninferiority of patient-reported outcomes, and assess cost-effectiveness of the new model. METHODS This is a hybrid effectiveness-implementation type-I study. To evaluate effectiveness, we plan to conduct an interrupted time-series study at 3 metropolitan hospitals in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Eligible patients will include those aged 16 years or older with a primary diagnosis of musculoskeletal LBP presenting to the ED. The implementation strategy includes clinician education using multimedia resources, staff champions, and an "audit and feedback" process. The implementation of "Back@Home" will be evaluated over 12 months and compared to a 48-month preimplementation period using monthly time-series trends in the average length of hospital stay as the primary outcome. We will construct a plot of the observed and expected lines of trend based on the preimplementation period. Linear segmented regression will identify changes in the level and slope of fitted lines, indicating immediate effects of the intervention, as well as effects over time. The data will be fully anonymized, with informed consent collected for patient-reported outcomes. RESULTS As of December 6, 2023, a total of 108 patients have been cared for through Back@Home. A total of 6 patients have completed semistructured interviews regarding their experience of virtual hospital care for nonserious back pain. All outcomes will be evaluated at 6 months (August 2023) and 12 months post implementation (February 2024). CONCLUSIONS This study will serve to inform ongoing care delivery and implementation strategies of a novel model of care. If found to be effective, it may be adopted by other health districts, adapting the model to their unique local contexts. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/50146.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alla Melman
- Sydney Musculoskeletal Health, The University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Min Jiat Teng
- Sydney Musculoskeletal Health, The University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District, Camperdown, Australia
- RPA Virtual Hospital, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia
| | - Danielle M Coombs
- Sydney Musculoskeletal Health, The University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Qiang Li
- The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Laurent Billot
- The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Thomas Lung
- The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
- School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Eileen Rogan
- Department of Medicine, Canterbury Hospital, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia
| | - Mona Marabani
- Department of Medicine, Canterbury Hospital, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia
| | - Owen Hutchings
- RPA Virtual Hospital, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia
| | - Chris G Maher
- Sydney Musculoskeletal Health, The University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Gustavo C Machado
- Sydney Musculoskeletal Health, The University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District, Camperdown, Australia
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12
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Chen H, Ignatowicz A, Skrybant M, Lasserson D. An integrated understanding of the impact of hospital at home: a mixed-methods study to articulate and test a programme theory. BMC Health Serv Res 2024; 24:163. [PMID: 38308304 PMCID: PMC10835828 DOI: 10.1186/s12913-024-10619-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hospital at Home (HaH) provides intensive, hospital-level care in patients' homes for acute conditions that would normally require hospitalisation, using multidisciplinary teams. As a programme of complex medical-social interventions, a HaH programme theory has not been fully articulated although implicit in the structures, functions, and activities of the existing HaH services. We aimed to unearth the tacit theory from international evidence and test the soundness of it by studying UK HaH services. METHODS We conducted a literature review (29 articles) adopting a 'realist review' approach (theory articulation) and examined 11 UK-based services by interviewing up to 3 staff members from each service (theory testing). The review and interview data were analysed using Framework Analysis and Purposive Text Analysis. RESULTS The programme theory has three components- the organisational, utilisation and impact theories. The impact theory consists of key assumptions about the change processes brought about by HaH's activities and functions, as detailed in the organisational and utilisation theories. HaH teams should encompass multiple disciplines to deliver comprehensive assessments and have skill sets for physically delivering hospital-level processes of care in the home. They should aim to treat a broad range of conditions in patients who are clinically complex and felt to be vulnerable to hospital acquired harms. Services should cover 7 days a week, have plans for 24/7 response and deliver relational continuity of care through consistent staffing. As a result, patients' and carers' knowledge, skills, and confidence in disease management and self-care should be strengthened with a sense of safety during HaH treatment, and carers better supported to fulfil their role with minimal added care burden. CONCLUSIONS There are organisational factors for HaH services and healthcare processes that contribute to better experience of care and outcomes for patients. HaH services should deliver care using hospital level processes through teams that have a focus on holistic and individually tailored care with continuity of therapeutic relationships between professionals and patients and carers resulting in less complexity and fragmentation of care. This analysis informs how HaH services can organise resources and design processes of care to optimise patient satisfaction and outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong Chen
- Warwick Medical School, Gibbet Hill Campus, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Agnieszka Ignatowicz
- Murray Learning Centre, Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TTT, UK
| | - Magdalena Skrybant
- Murray Learning Centre, Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TTT, UK
| | - Daniel Lasserson
- Warwick Medical School, Gibbet Hill Campus, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.
- Department of Geriatric Medicine, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.
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Elliott M, Rinetti-Vargas G, Kipnis P, Herm AR, Wong K, Witkowski A, Deputy J, Reyes V, Barreda F, Myers LC, Liu VX. Identifying Optimal Acute Care Comparators to Inform the Evaluation of an Advanced Care at Home Pilot Program. Perm J 2023; 27:90-99. [PMID: 37885239 PMCID: PMC10723097 DOI: 10.7812/tpp/23.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hospital at Home (H@H) programs-which seek to deliver acute care within a patient's home-have become more prevalent over time. However, existing literature exhibits heterogeneity in program structure, evaluation design, and target population size, making it difficult to draw generalizable conclusions to inform future H@H program design. OBJECTIVE The objective of this work was to develop a quality improvement evaluation strategy for a H@H program-the Kaiser Permanente Advanced Care at Home (KPACAH) program in Northern California-leveraging electronic health record data, chart review, and patient surveys to compare KPACAH patients with inpatients in traditional hospital settings. METHODS The authors developed a 3-step recruitment workflow that used electronic health record filtering tools to generate a daily list of potential comparators, a manual chart review of potentially eligible comparator patients to assess individual clinical and social criteria, and a phone interview with patients to affirm eligibility and interest from potential comparator patients. RESULTS This workflow successfully identified and enrolled a population of 446 comparator patients in a 5-month period who exhibited similar demographics, reasons for hospitalization, comorbidity burden, and utilization measures to patients enrolled in the KPACAH program. CONCLUSION These initial findings provide promise for a workflow that can facilitate the identification of similar inpatients hospitalized at traditional brick and mortar facilities to enhance outcomes evaluations for the H@H programs, as well as to identify the potential volume of enrollees as the program expands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Elliott
- Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA, USA
| | - Gina Rinetti-Vargas
- Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA, USA
- The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., Oakland, CA, USA
| | - Patricia Kipnis
- Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA, USA
- The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., Oakland, CA, USA
| | - Ariel R Herm
- The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., Oakland, CA, USA
| | - Kent Wong
- The Permanente Medical Group Consulting Services, Oakland, CA, USA
| | - Agnieszka Witkowski
- The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., Oakland, CA, USA
- Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center, Vallejo, CA, USA
| | - Jesica Deputy
- Kaiser Permanente Regional Offices, Oakland, CA, USA
| | - Vivian Reyes
- The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., Oakland, CA, USA
| | - Fernando Barreda
- Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA, USA
- The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., Oakland, CA, USA
| | - Laura C Myers
- Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA, USA
- The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., Oakland, CA, USA
- Kaiser Permanente Walnut Creek Medical Center, Walnut Creek, CA, USA
| | - Vincent X Liu
- Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA, USA
- The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., Oakland, CA, USA
- Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center, Santa Clara, CA, USA
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Ko SQ, Wang Z, Goh SLE, Soong JTY. Proportion of medical admissions that may be hospitalised at home and their service utilisation patterns: a single-centre, descriptive retrospective cohort study in Singapore. BMJ Open 2023; 13:e073692. [PMID: 37879677 PMCID: PMC10603527 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-073692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/27/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES For eligible patient groups, hospital-at-home (HaH) programmes have been shown to deliver equivalent patient outcomes with cost reduction compared with standard care. This study aims to establish a benchmark of inpatient admissions that could potentially be substituted by HaH services. DESIGN Descriptive retrospective cohort study. SETTING Academic tertiary hospital in Singapore. PARTICIPANTS 124 253 medical admissions over 20 months (January 2016 to August 2017). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES The primary measure was the proportion of hospitalised patients who may be eligible for HaH, based on eligibility criteria adapted for the Singapore context. The secondary measures were the utilisation patterns and outcomes of these patients. RESULTS Applying generalised eligibility criteria to the retrospective dataset showed that 53.0% of 124 253 medical admissions fitted the eligibility criteria for HaH based on administrative data. 46.8% of such patients had a length of stay <48 hours ('short-stay') and 53.1% had a length of stay ≥48 hours ('medium-stay'). The mortality rate and the 30-day readmission rate were lower in the 'short-stay' cohort (0.6%, 12.8%) compared with the 'medium-stay' cohort (0.7%, 20.3%). The key services used by both groups were: parenteral drug administration, blood investigations, imaging procedures and consultations with allied health professionals. CONCLUSIONS Up to 53.0% of medical admissions receive care elements that HaH programmes could provide. Applying estimates of functional limitations and patient preferences, we propose a target of ~18% of inpatient medical admissions to be substituted by HaH services. The methodology adopted in this paper is a reproducible approach to characterise potential patients and service utilisation requirements when developing such programmes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Q Ko
- Division of Advanced Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore
| | - Zhemin Wang
- Department of Medicine, Alexandra Hospital, Singapore
| | - Samuel Li Earn Goh
- Division of Advanced Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore
| | - John T Y Soong
- Division of Advanced Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore
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Roos R, Pepping RMC, van Aken MO, Labots G, Lahdidioui A, van den Berg JMW, Kolfschoten NE, Pasha SM, Ten Holder JT, Mollink SM, van den Bos F, Kant J, Kroon I, Vos RC, Numans ME, van Nieuwkoop C. Evaluation of an integrated care pathway for out-of-hospital treatment of older adults with an acute moderate-to-severe lower respiratory tract infection or pneumonia: protocol of a mixed methods study. BMJ Open 2023; 13:e073126. [PMID: 37591644 PMCID: PMC10441079 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-073126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Older adults with an acute moderate-to-severe lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) or pneumonia are generally treated in hospitals causing risk of iatrogenic harm such as functional decline and delirium. These hospitalisations are often a consequence of poor collaboration between regional care partners, the lack of (acute) diagnostic and treatment possibilities in primary care, and the presence of financial barriers. We will evaluate the implementation of an integrated regional care pathway ('The Hague RTI Care Bridge') developed with the aim to treat and coordinate care for these patients outside the hospital. METHODS AND ANALYSIS This is a prospective mixed methods study. Participants will be older adults (age≥65 years) with an acute moderate-to-severe LRTI or pneumonia treated outside the hospital (care pathway group) versus those treated in the hospital (control group). In addition, patients, their informal caregivers and treating physicians will be asked about their experiences with the care pathway. The primary outcome of this study will be the feasibility of the care pathway, which is defined as the percentage of patients treated outside the hospital, according to the care pathway, whom fully complete their treatment without the need for hospitalisation within 30 days of follow-up. Secondary outcomes include the safety of the care pathway (30-day mortality and occurrence of complications (readmissions, delirium, falls) within 30 days); the satisfaction, usability and acceptance of the care pathway; the total number of days of bedridden status or hospitalisation; sleep quantity and quality; functional outcomes and quality of life. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION The Medical Research Ethics Committee Leiden The Hague Delft (reference number N22.078) has confirmed that the Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Act does not apply to this study. The results will be published in international peer-reviewed journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER ISRCTN68786381.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rick Roos
- Department of Internal Medicine, Haga Teaching Hospital, The Hague, The Netherlands
- Health Campus The Hague/Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Rianne M C Pepping
- Department of Internal Medicine, Haga Teaching Hospital, The Hague, The Netherlands
- Health Campus The Hague/Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Maarten O van Aken
- Department of Internal Medicine, Haga Teaching Hospital, The Hague, The Netherlands
- Health Campus The Hague/Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Geert Labots
- Department of Internal Medicine, Haga Teaching Hospital, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Ali Lahdidioui
- Department of Internal Medicine, Haga Teaching Hospital, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | | | - Nikki E Kolfschoten
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Haga Teaching Hospital, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Sharif M Pasha
- Department of Internal Medicine, Haaglanden Medical Center, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Joris T Ten Holder
- Department of Pulmonology, Haaglanden Medical Center, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Susan M Mollink
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Haaglanden Medical Center, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Frederiek van den Bos
- Department of Internal Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Ingrid Kroon
- Kroon Elderly Care Physician, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Rimke C Vos
- Health Campus The Hague/Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Mattijs E Numans
- Health Campus The Hague/Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Cees van Nieuwkoop
- Department of Internal Medicine, Haga Teaching Hospital, The Hague, The Netherlands
- Health Campus The Hague/Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, The Hague, The Netherlands
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16
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Teske C, Mourad G, Milovanovic M. Mobile care - a possible future for emergency care in Sweden. BMC Emerg Med 2023; 23:80. [PMID: 37501146 PMCID: PMC10375669 DOI: 10.1186/s12873-023-00847-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Provision of mobile care at the home of patients appears to become necessary as the population becomes increasingly older. But there are challenges in moving emergency care from hospitals to the home of patients. The aim of the study was therefore to describe the experiences of the mobile care in Sweden. METHOD Semi structured interviews were conducted with 12 persons with experience of mobile care in Sweden, such as nurses, physicians, civil servants and politicians. Qualitative latent content analysis was used as an analysis method. RESULT The results show that cooperation is of utmost importance to achieve functioning mobile care. Cooperation both on an inter-organizational level and on a close team-work is required for all of the involved parties in mobile care to take on a joint responsibility for the patient. As mobile care is primarily provided to elderly multimorbid patients, a comprehensive view on patient care is required in which the patient and their relatives experience security. CONCLUSION Mobile care is seen as a moving care that comes to the seeking person and not the other way around. The resources are distributed where they make the most use, that is, closest to the individual. Mobile care is seen as a complement to the traditional hospital care. This means a different way of working that requires close collaboration between different categories of personnel and organizations, where there should not be any discussions about boundaries, rather, the discussion should include patient's needs and situation instead.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christofer Teske
- Department of Health, Medicine and Care (HMV), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Norrköping, SE-601 74, Sweden
- Department of Emergency, Vrinnevi Hospital, Norrköping, Sweden
| | - Ghassan Mourad
- Department of Health, Medicine and Care (HMV), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Norrköping, SE-601 74, Sweden
| | - Micha Milovanovic
- Department of Health, Medicine and Care (HMV), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Norrköping, SE-601 74, Sweden.
- Department of Internal Medicine, Vrinnevi Hospital, Norrköping, Sweden.
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Salehi M, Chaudry S, Newman RB, Hartnett J, Rose SJ, Homayounrooz F. Home Oxygen and Monitoring for COVID-19 Patients: A Multidisciplinary Team Approach. J Community Hosp Intern Med Perspect 2023; 13:21-27. [PMID: 37877049 PMCID: PMC10593172 DOI: 10.55729/2000-9666.1184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 02/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction During the initial COVID-19 pandemic peak, Stamford Hospital implemented a home oxygen program (HOP) to create a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary outpatient initiative without sacrificing a safe discharge. Primary care physicians monitored program participants, whose only indication for remaining admitted was an oxygen requirement. We retrospectively examined participant co-morbidities and outcomes, including death and readmission rates to evaluate HOP safety. Methods A retrospective analysis of program participants discharged between April 2020-Janurary 2021 was performed. Variables included demographics, oxygen requirement, days enrolled in the HOP, and major comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes (DM), hypertension (HTN), obesity, chronic kidney disease, malignancies and underlying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Results Among the 138 HOP participants, ages ranged from 23 to 96 (Mean 65.5), with 47.1% female and 52.9% male. The most represented ethnicity included White (48.6%), Hispanic (29.7%), and Black (15.2%). Patients' average time in the HOP was 19 days, requiring an average of 1.7 L/min of home oxygen. Thirteen patients (9.4%) were readmitted to the hospital with 2.9% secondary to worsening COVID-19 hypoxia, but no deaths occurred at home. A significant relationship was found between age and highest home oxygen need. Patients with COPD, HTN, and DM had significantly higher oxygen requirements (P-value <0.05). Conclusion Increasing age, underlying COPD, HTN, and DM were associated with higher oxygen requirements in participants. Given limited availability of hospital beds, and no occurrences of death at home, Stamford Hospital HOP safely helped provide care for sicker patients and enhanced resource allocation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahta Salehi
- St. Louis University Hospital, Hematology Oncology Division, 3655 Vista Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110,
USA
| | - Shehrose Chaudry
- Hartford HealthCare Medical Group at St. Vincent's Health & Wellness Center, 199 Cherry Street, Milford, CT 06460,
USA
| | - Rebecca B. Newman
- Department of Medicine, Stamford Hospital / Columbia University, One Hospital Plaza, Stamford, CT 06902,
USA
| | - Josette Hartnett
- Department of Research and Discovery, Stamford Hospital, One Hospital Plaza, Stamford, CT 06902,
USA
| | - Suzanne J. Rose
- Department of Research and Discovery, Stamford Hospital, One Hospital Plaza, Stamford, CT 06902,
USA
| | - Forugh Homayounrooz
- Department of Medicine, Stamford Hospital / Columbia University, One Hospital Plaza, Stamford, CT 06902,
USA
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18
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Leite S, Monteiro KS, Santino TA, Chaves G, Barbosa JVDS, Santos TZM, Amaral C, Ahmed S, Gama ZADS, Mendonça KMPPD. Effects of home healthcare for adults with chronic respiratory diseases and post-COVID-19 syndrome on hospital bed turnover rate: a protocol of systematic review with meta-analysis. BMJ Open 2023; 13:e069341. [PMID: 37012017 PMCID: PMC10083526 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) have a high prevalence, morbidity and mortality worldwide. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of patients readmitted after hospital discharge increased. For some populations, early hospital discharge and home healthcare may reduce health costs in patients treated at home when compared with those hospitalised. This study aims to systematically review the effectiveness of home healthcare for patients with CRDs and post-COVID-19 syndrome. METHODS AND ANALYSIS We will search on MEDLINE, CENTRAL, Embase and PsycINFO. We will include randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCT studies reported in full text and abstracts. No language restriction will be applied. We will include studies related to adults with a diagnosis of CRDs or post-COVID-19 syndrome that compared in-patient hospital care with any home healthcare. We will exclude studies with participants with neurological, mental diseases, cancer or pregnant women. Two review authors will screen abstracts and select the eligible studies. To investigate the risk of bias, we will use the Cochrane 'Risk of Bias' tool for RCT, and the Risk of Bias In Non-randomised Studies-of Interventions for non-RCT. We will use the five Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) considerations to assess the quality of the evidence. Patients and the public will be involved in the preparation, execution and implementation phases of the review. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION No ethical approval is required because only published data will be analysed. The publication of the results in peer-reviewed journals and at relevant conferences will guide the direction of future research in the field and healthcare practice. The results will also be disseminated in plain language on social media to disseminate the knowledge to society and the public interested in the topic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Leite
- Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
| | | | | | - Gabriela Chaves
- Department of Research and Development, Myant Inc, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Tácito Z M Santos
- Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
| | - Cleia Amaral
- Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
| | - Sara Ahmed
- School of Physical & Occupational Therapy, McGill University Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada
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Continuous Vital Signs Monitoring in Patients Hospitalized at Home: Burden or Benefit? J Am Med Dir Assoc 2023; 24:759-760. [PMID: 37011887 PMCID: PMC10064244 DOI: 10.1016/j.jamda.2023.02.109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Revised: 02/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/25/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023]
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Roberts N, Carrigan A, Clay-Williams R, Hibbert PD, Mahmoud Z, Pomare C, Fajardo Pulido D, Meulenbroeks I, Knaggs GT, Austin EE, Churruca K, Ellis LA, Long JC, Hutchinson K, Best S, Nic Giolla Easpaig B, Sarkies MN, Francis Auton E, Hatem S, Dammery G, Nguyen MT, Nguyen HM, Arnolda G, Rapport F, Zurynski Y, Maka K, Braithwaite J. Innovative models of healthcare delivery: an umbrella review of reviews. BMJ Open 2023; 13:e066270. [PMID: 36822811 PMCID: PMC9950590 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-066270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To undertake a synthesis of evidence-based research for seven innovative models of care to inform the development of new hospitals. DESIGN Umbrella review. SETTING Interventions delivered inside and outside of acute care settings. PARTICIPANTS Children and adults with one or more identified acute or chronic health conditions. DATA SOURCES PsycINFO, Ovid MEDLINE and CINAHL. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES Clinical indicators and mortality, healthcare utilisation, quality of life, self-management and self-care and patient knowledge. RESULTS A total of 66 reviews were included, synthesising evidence from 1272 primary studies across the 7 models of care. Virtual care was the most common model studied, addressed by 47 (73%) of the reviews. Common outcomes evaluated across reviews were clinical indicators and mortality, healthcare utilisation, self-care and self-management, patient knowledge, quality of life and cost-effectiveness. The findings indicate that the innovative models of healthcare we identified in this review may be effective in managing patients with a range of acute and chronic conditions. Most of the included reviews reported evidence of comparable or improved care. CONCLUSIONS A consideration of local infrastructure and individual patient characteristics, such as health literacy, may be critical in determining the suitability of models of care for patients and their implementation in local health systems. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER 10.17605/OSF.IO/PS6ZU.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Roberts
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ann Carrigan
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Robyn Clay-Williams
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Peter D Hibbert
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Division of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Zeyad Mahmoud
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- LEMNA, F-44000, Universite de Nantes, Nantes, France
| | - Chiara Pomare
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Diana Fajardo Pulido
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Isabelle Meulenbroeks
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Gilbert Thomas Knaggs
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Elizabeth E Austin
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Kate Churruca
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Louise A Ellis
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Janet C Long
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Karen Hutchinson
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Stephanie Best
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Australian Genomics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Brona Nic Giolla Easpaig
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Mitchell N Sarkies
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Emilie Francis Auton
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Sarah Hatem
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Genevieve Dammery
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Mai-Tran Nguyen
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Hoa Mi Nguyen
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Gaston Arnolda
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Frances Rapport
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Yvonne Zurynski
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Katherine Maka
- Western Sydney Local Health District, Wentworthville, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Jeffrey Braithwaite
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Velez M, Lugo-Agudelo LH, Patiño Lugo DF, Glenton C, Posada AM, Mesa Franco LF, Negrini S, Kiekens C, Spir Brunal MA, Roberg ASB, Cruz Sarmiento KM. Factors that influence the provision of home-based rehabilitation services for people needing rehabilitation: a qualitative evidence synthesis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2023; 2:CD014823. [PMID: 36780267 PMCID: PMC9918343 DOI: 10.1002/14651858.cd014823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND To increase people's access to rehabilitation services, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to explore how the delivery of these services can be adapted. This includes the use of home-based rehabilitation and telerehabilitation. Home-based rehabilitation services may become frequently used options in the recovery process of patients, not only as a solution to accessibility barriers, but as a complement to the usual in-person inpatient rehabilitation provision. Telerehabilitation is also becoming more viable as the usability and availability of communication technologies improve. OBJECTIVES To identify factors that influence the organisation and delivery of in-person home-based rehabilitation and home-based telerehabilitation for people needing rehabilitation. SEARCH METHODS We searched PubMed, Global Health, the VHL Regional Portal, Epistemonikos, Health Systems Evidence, and EBM Reviews as well as preprints, regional repositories, and rehabilitation organisations websites for eligible studies, from database inception to search date in June 2022. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included studies that used qualitative methods for data collection and analysis; and that explored patients, caregivers, healthcare providers and other stakeholders' experiences, perceptions and behaviours about the provision of in-person home-based rehabilitation and home-based telerehabilitation services responding to patients' needs in different phases of their health conditions. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used a purposive sampling approach and applied maximum variation sampling in a four-step sampling frame. We conducted a framework thematic analysis using the CFIR (Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research) framework as our starting point. We assessed our confidence in the findings using the GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach. MAIN RESULTS: We included 223 studies in the review and sampled 53 of these for our analysis. Forty-five studies were conducted in high-income countries, and eight in low-and middle-income countries. Twenty studies addressed in-person home-based rehabilitation, 28 studies addressed home-based telerehabilitation services, and five studies addressed both modes of delivery. The studies mainly explored the perspectives of healthcare providers, patients with a range of different health conditions, and their informal caregivers and family members. Based on our GRADE-CERQual assessments, we had high confidence in eight of the findings, and moderate confidence in five, indicating that it is highly likely or likely respectively that these findings are a reasonable representation of the phenomenon of interest. There were two findings with low confidence. High and moderate confidence findings Home-based rehabilitation services delivered in-person or through telerehabilitation Patients experience home-based services as convenient and less disruptive of their everyday activities. Patients and providers also suggest that these services can encourage patients' self-management and can make them feel empowered about the rehabilitation process. But patients, family members, and providers describe privacy and confidentiality issues when services are provided at home. These include the increased privacy of being able to exercise at home but also the loss of privacy when one's home life is visible to others. Patients and providers also describe other factors that can affect the success of home-based rehabilitation services. These include support from providers and family members, good communication with providers, the requirements made of patients and their surroundings, and the transition from hospital to home-based services. Telerehabilitation specifically Patients, family members and providers see telerehabilitation as an opportunity to make services more available. But providers point to practical problems when assessing whether patients are performing their exercises correctly. Providers and patients also describe interruptions from family members. In addition, providers complain of a lack of equipment, infrastructure and maintenance and patients refer to usability issues and frustration with digital technology. Providers have different opinions about whether telerehabilitation is cost-efficient for them. But many patients see telerehabilitation as affordable and cost-saving if the equipment and infrastructure have been provided. Patients and providers suggest that telerehabilitation can change the nature of their relationship. For instance, some patients describe how telerehabilitation leads to easier and more relaxed communication. Other patients describe feeling abandoned when receiving telerehabilitation services. Patients, family members and providers call for easy-to-use technologies and more training and support. They also suggest that at least some in-person sessions with the provider are necessary. They feel that telerehabilitation services alone can make it difficult to make meaningful connections. They also explain that some services need the provider's hands. Providers highlight the importance of personalising the services to each person's needs and circumstances. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS This synthesis identified several factors that can influence the successful implementation of in-person home-based rehabilitation and telerehabilitation services. These included factors that facilitate implementation, but also factors that can challenge this process. Healthcare providers, program planners and policymakers might benefit from considering these factors when designing and implementing programmes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcela Velez
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
- Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| | | | | | - Claire Glenton
- Department of Health and Functioning, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway
| | - Ana M Posada
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | | | - Stefano Negrini
- Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, University La Statale , Milano, Italy
- Laboratory of Evidence Based Rehabilitation, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Milan, Italy
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Megido I, Sela Y, Grinberg K. Cost effectiveness of home care versus hospital care: a retrospective analysis. COST EFFECTIVENESS AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION 2023; 21:13. [PMID: 36732792 PMCID: PMC9893595 DOI: 10.1186/s12962-023-00424-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Increased utilization of health services due to population growth affects the allocation of national resources and budgets. Hence, it is important for national policy. Home hospitalization is one of the solutions for dealing with the growing demand for hospital beds and reducing the duration of hospitalization and its costs. It is gradually becoming part of the regular care in many health systems, yet, studies on the economic aspects of Community-Based Home Hospitalization (CBHH) implementation in Israel are few. The aim of this study is to examine costs of CBHH in comparison to costs of inpatient hospital care in the Israeli public health system. METHODS Retrospective data was collected using document research in databases. A review of the costs of patients in CBHH at Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS) was conducted. A total of 3374 patients were included in this study: 1687 patients who were in CBHH, and 1687 age- and sex-matched patients who were hospitalized in an internal department (the control group). The study population included the patients admitted to CBHH from January 2018 to July 2020, and patients admitted to internal medicine departments during the same period. RESULTS The number of hospitalizations during the follow up period were statistically significantly lower in the CBHH group compared with the control group (M = 1.18, SD = 0.56 vs. M = 1.61, SD = 1.29, p < 0.001). In addition, the mean number of hospitalization days was also statistically significantly lower for 4.3 (SD = 4.5) for CBHH patients compared to the control group (M = 4.3 days, SD = 4.5 vs. M = 7.5 days, SD = 10.3, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the mean cost per day was statistically significantly higher for inpatient hospitalization compared to CBHH (M = 1829.1, SD = 87.5 vs. M = 783.2, SD = 178.3, p < 0.001). Older patients, patients with diabetes and patients hospitalized in hospitals had a higher number of hospitalization days. CONCLUSIONS The costs of CBHH seem to be lower than those of inpatient care. Managing CBHH is characterized by constantly measuring financial feasibility that would be an impetus for further development of this service.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris Megido
- grid.425380.8Operating Division, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yael Sela
- grid.443022.30000 0004 0636 0840Department of Nursing Sciences, Faculty of Social and Community Science, Ruppin Academic Center, Emek- Hefer, Israel
| | - Keren Grinberg
- grid.443022.30000 0004 0636 0840Department of Nursing Sciences, Faculty of Social and Community Science, Ruppin Academic Center, Emek- Hefer, Israel
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Gorbenko K, Baim-Lance A, Franzosa E, Wurtz H, Schiller G, Masse S, Ornstein KA, Federman A, Levine DM, DeCherrie LV, Leff B, Siu A. A national qualitative study of Hospital-at-Home implementation under the CMS Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver. J Am Geriatr Soc 2023; 71:245-258. [PMID: 36197021 DOI: 10.1111/jgs.18071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Revised: 08/16/2022] [Accepted: 08/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCaH) waiver program in November 2020 to help expand hospital capacity to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The AHCaH waived the 24/7 on-site nursing requirement and enabled hospitals to obtain full hospital-level diagnosis-related group (DRG) reimbursement for providing Hospital-at-Home (HaH) care. This study sought to describe AHCaH implementation processes and strategies at the national level and identify challenges and facilitators to launching or adapting a HaH to meet waiver requirements. METHODS We conducted semi-structured interviews to explore barriers and facilitators of HaH implementation. The analysis was informed by the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) implementation framework. Interviews were audio recorded for transcription and thematic coding. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We interviewed a sample of clinical leaders (N = 18; clinical/medical directors, operational and program managers) from 14 new and pre-existing U.S. HaH programs diverse by size, urbanicity, and geography. Participants were enthusiastic about the AHCaH waiver. Participants described barriers and facilitators at planning and implementation stages within three overarching themes influencing waiver program implementation: 1) institutional value and assets; 2) program components, such as electronic health records, vendors, pharmacy, and patient monitoring; and 3) patient enrollment, including eligibility and geographic limits. CONCLUSIONS Implementation of AHCaH waiver is a complex process that requires building components in compliance with the requirements to extend the hospital into the home, in coordination with internal and external partners. The study identified barriers that potential adopters and proponents should consider alongside the strategies that some organizations have found useful. Clarity regarding the waiver's future may expedite HaH model dissemination and ensure longevity of this valuable model of care delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ksenia Gorbenko
- Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.,Institute for Health Care Delivery Science, Mount Sinai Health System, New York, New York, USA
| | - Abigail Baim-Lance
- Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.,Department of Veteran Affairs, James J. Peters VA Medical Center and Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Emily Franzosa
- Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.,Department of Veteran Affairs, James J. Peters VA Medical Center and Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Heather Wurtz
- Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Gabrielle Schiller
- Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Sybil Masse
- Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Katherine A Ornstein
- Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Alex Federman
- Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - David M Levine
- Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Ariadne Labs, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Linda V DeCherrie
- Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Bruce Leff
- Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, Center for Transformative Geriatric Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Albert Siu
- Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.,Department of Veteran Affairs, James J. Peters VA Medical Center and Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
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24
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Soong JTY, Bell D, Ong MEH. Meeting today’s healthcare needs: Medicine at the interface. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, SINGAPORE 2022. [DOI: 10.47102/annals-acadmedsg.2022196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The demographic of Singapore has undergone dramatic change. Historically, younger patients with communicable diseases predominated, whereas patients are now older with chronic multimorbidity and functional impairment. This shift challenges existing health and social care systems in Singapore, which must pivot to meet the changing need. The consequences of mismatched health and social care to patient needs are the fragmentation of care, dysfunctional acute care utilisation and increasing care costs. In Singapore and internationally, there is an inexorable rise in acute care utilisation, with patients facing the greatest point of vulnerability at transitions between acute and chronic care. Recently, innovative care models have developed to work across the boundaries of traditional care interfaces. These “Interface Medicine” models aim to provide a comprehensive and integrated approach to meet the healthcare needs of today and optimise value with our finite resources. These models include Acute Medical Units, Ambulatory Emergency Care, Extensivist-Comprehensivist Care, Virtual Wards, Hospital-at-Home and Acute Frailty Units. We describe these models of care across the acute care chain and explore how they may apply to the Singapore setting. We discuss how these models have evolved, appraise the evidence for clinical effectiveness, point out gaps in knowledge for further study and make recommendations for future progress.
Keywords: Frailty, health services research, integrated care, interface medicine, public health
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Derek Bell
- Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
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Aasen L, Johannessen A, Ruud Knutsen I, Werner A. Negotiating safety and responsibility in caregiving to children receiving hospital-at-home: A Norwegian study of parents and homecare nurses' experiences. HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY 2022; 30:e5326-e5335. [PMID: 35899974 PMCID: PMC10087872 DOI: 10.1111/hsc.13951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2022] [Revised: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/16/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Healthcare policies in Western countries increasingly emphasise the avoidance of hospitalisation to reduce hospital admissions. Hospital-at-home for children is a treatment offered to children at home that would otherwise require hospitalisation. Norway practices a model where homecare services play a significant role in assisting the hospital when children need home visits beyond the capacity of what the hospital can offer. Although homecare nurses' work has been affected by several changes in recent decades, few have reported on what these changes imply for homecare nurses' work and family caregivers. The aim of this study was to explore how parents and homecare nurses worked and collaborated in home visits to children receiving hospital-at-home, focusing on how they negotiated caregiving. We conducted 16 interviews: six interviews with parents and 10 interviews with homecare nurses. The interviews were analysed thematically. Both parents and homecare nurses described these home visits as challenging, indicating experiences of distrust. Parents had carefully observed homecare nurses, checking whether they knew how to treat the child and perform the clinical procedures. Homecare nurses had invested much energy into being perceived as calm and trustworthy by the parents. We applied the perspective of negotiation to understand the work and collaboration reported by parents and homecare nurses when unsafety or uncertainty was experienced during home visits, revealing the complexity of their roles in dealing with such events. The results showed the reciprocal dependency between the parents and the homecare nurses that enabled them to perform caregiving work in partnership, sharing responsibility. Our findings suggest that the collaboration with hospital-at-home has an impact on the feeling of safety and control for both parties. We question whether there is a danger of too much responsibility being left with the parents when homecare services are involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Line Aasen
- Department of Nursing and Health PromotionOsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan UniversityOsloNorway
| | - Anne‐Kari Johannessen
- Department of Nursing and Health PromotionOsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan UniversityOsloNorway
- Health Services Research UnitAkershus University Hospital (Ahus)LørenskogNorway
| | - Ingrid Ruud Knutsen
- Department of Nursing and Health PromotionOsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan UniversityOsloNorway
| | - Anne Werner
- Health Services Research UnitAkershus University Hospital (Ahus)LørenskogNorway
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Peters GM, Doggen CJM, van Harten WH. Budget impact analysis of providing hospital inpatient care at home virtually, starting with two specific surgical patient groups. BMJ Open 2022; 12:e051833. [PMID: 35914920 PMCID: PMC9345035 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To determine the budget impact of virtual care. METHODS We conducted a budget impact analysis of virtual care from the perspective of a large teaching hospital in the Netherlands. Virtual care included remote monitoring of vital signs and three daily remote contacts. Net budget impact over 5 years and net costs per patient per day (costs/patient/day) were calculated for different scenarios: implementation in one ward, in two different wards, in the entire hospital, and in multiple hospitals. Sensitivity analyses included best-case and worst-case scenarios, and reducing the frequency of daily remote contacts. RESULTS Net budget impact over 5 years was €2 090 000 for implementation in one ward, €410 000 for two wards and €-6 206 000 for the entire hospital. Costs/patient/day in the first year were €303 for implementation in one ward, €94 for two wards and €11 for the entire hospital, decreasing in subsequent years to a mean of €259 (SD=€72), €17 (SD=€10) and €-55 (SD=€44), respectively. Projecting implementation in every Dutch hospital resulted in a net budget impact over 5 years of €-445 698 500. For this scenario, costs/patient/day decreased to €-37 in the first year, and to €54 in subsequent years in the base case. CONCLUSIONS With present cost levels, virtual care only saves money if it is deployed at sufficient scale or if it can be designed such that the active involvement of health professionals is minimised. Taking a greenfield approach, involving larger numbers of hospitals, further decreases costs compared with implementing virtual care in one hospital alone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido M Peters
- Rijnstate Research Center, Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, The Netherlands
- Department of Health Technology and Services Research, Faculty of Behavioural, Management & Social Sciences, Technical Medical Centre, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Carine J M Doggen
- Rijnstate Research Center, Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, The Netherlands
- Department of Health Technology and Services Research, Faculty of Behavioural, Management & Social Sciences, Technical Medical Centre, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Wim H van Harten
- Department of Health Technology and Services Research, Faculty of Behavioural, Management & Social Sciences, Technical Medical Centre, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
- Division of Psychosocial Research and Epidemiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Ko SQ, Goh J, Tay YK, Nashi N, Hooi BMY, Luo N, Kuan WS, Soong JTY, Chan D, Lai YF, Lim YW. Treating acutely ill patients at home: Data from Singapore. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, SINGAPORE 2022; 51:392-399. [PMID: 35906938 DOI: 10.47102/annals-acadmedsg.2021465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Hospital-at-home programmes are well described in the literature but not in Asia. We describe a home-based inpatient substitutive care programme in Singapore, with clinical and patient-reported outcomes. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to a hospital-at-home programme from September 2020 to September 2021. Suitable patients, who otherwise required hospitalisation, were admitted to the programme. They were from inpatient wards, emergency department and community nursing teams in the western part of Singapore, where a multidisciplinary team provided hospital-level care at home. Electronic health record data were extracted from all patients admitted to the programme. Patient satisfaction surveys were conducted post-discharge. RESULTS A total of 108 patients enrolled. Mean age was 67.9 (standard deviation 16.7) years, and 46% were male. The main diagnoses were skin and soft tissue infections (35%), urinary tract infections (29%) and fluid overload (18%). Median length of stay was 4 (interquartile range 3-7) days. Seven patients were escalated back to the hospital, of whom 2 died after escalation. One patient died at home. There was 1 case of adverse drug reaction and 1 fall at home, and no cases of hospital-acquired infections. Patient satisfaction rates were high and 94% of contactable patients would choose to participate again. CONCLUSION Hospital-at-home programmes appear to be safe and feasible alternatives to inpatient care in Singapore. Further studies are warranted to compare clinical outcomes and cost to conventional inpatient care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Q Ko
- Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore
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28
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Jeffery S, MacInnes J, Bertini L, Walker S. Does a discharge to assess programme introduced in England meet the quadruple aim of service improvement? JOURNAL OF INTEGRATED CARE 2022. [DOI: 10.1108/jica-02-2022-0018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
PurposeThis paper intends to examine and evaluate the implementation and delivery of a discharge to assess pathway based on the UK Department of Health and Social Care Hospital Discharge Policy in relation to the quadruple aim of healthcare improvement: improving patient experience, reducing costs, benefiting the wider population and improving the work life of staff.Design/methodology/approachUsing a place based partnership in the south of England, 18 staff involved the delivery of discharge to assess and four patients who had recently been through the pathway were interviewed and the narratives analysed using a framework method.FindingsAll four dimensions of the quadruple aim were felt to be positively impacted by the discharge to assess pathway in varying degrees. Staff described improvements to working lives; patients described a positive experience. There was no evidence of reduced costs and wider benefit through reduced length of stay was suggested rather than demonstrated. The study showed a need to ensure both information flows and discharge process are smooth, that there is sufficient community capacity and capability, a need for strong relationships and shared goals, for clarity of pathway and empowered staff, and for an avoidance of the over prescription of care.Originality/valueThe revised discharge to assess pathway in England has been in place since 2020 and no other assessments of the pathway were found that related the changes to the quadruple aim framework.
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Mansour MHH, Pokhrel S, Anokye N. Effectiveness of integrated care interventions for patients with long-term conditions: a review of systematic reviews. INTEGRATED HEALTHCARE JOURNAL 2022. [DOI: 10.1136/ihj-2021-000083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
To examine the effectiveness of integrated care intervention (ICI) models (stand-alone or combination of self-management, discharge management, case management and multidisciplinary teams models) targeting patients with one or more chronic conditions, and to identify outcome measures/indicators of effectiveness, we conducted a systematic review of published systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Included reviews comprise ICIs targeting adult patients with one or more long-term conditions. We searched MEDLINE, CINAHL and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: 60 reviews were included in the final analysis; 28 reviews evaluated ICIs focused on self-management, 4 on case management, 10 on discharge management and 5 on multidisciplinary teams; 13 reviews assessed multiple interventions that were labelled as complex. Across all reviews, only 19 reviews included intervention with multiple ICIs. Overall, interventions with multiple components, compared with interventions with single components, were more likely to improve hospital use outcomes effectively. Clinical/lifestyle/condition-specific outcomes were more likely to be improved by self-management interventions. Outcome measures identified could be classified into three main categories: organisational, patient-centred and clinical/lifestyle/condition-specific. The findings of this review may provide inputs to future design and evaluation of ICIs.
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Cordero-Guevara JA, Parraza-Díez N, Vrotsou K, Machón M, Orruño E, Onaindia-Ecenarro MJ, Millet-Sampedro M, Regalado de Los Cobos J. Factors associated with the workload of health professionals in hospital at home: a systematic review. BMC Health Serv Res 2022; 22:704. [PMID: 35619075 PMCID: PMC9134652 DOI: 10.1186/s12913-022-08100-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Understanding the factors related to workload, could help hospital at home (HaH) managers to make decisions on the most appropriate and efficient use of the HaH services. Published studies on this topic are scarce, so we have conducted a systematic review to identify such factors according to published evidence. METHODS Due to the heterogeneity of HaH models, HaH was defined as a care that provides a set of medical and nursing care and attention of hospital rank to patients at home, when they no longer require hospital infrastructure but still need active monitoring and complex care. The electronic data base literature search was conducted in MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Ovid), and Cinahl (EBSCOhost) from inception to December 2021, including grey literature. Search terms related to `hospital at home´, `workload´ and `care time´ were used. There was no restriction on language, type of study or year of publication. Quality of included studies was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist and certainty in the body of evidence was assessed using the GRADE Pro Tool. Results were summarised in a tabulated format. RESULTS Eighteen studies with 56,706 patients were included. Workload was measured as time, number of visits or both. The predictive factors of the workload included variables related to patient characteristics and other valid and reliable patient classification systems, as well as characteristics of the institutions where the studies were conducted. The factors associated with higher workloads were: being older, male, living in a rural environment, presenting a higher number of diagnoses, having worse functional status and being unable to assume self-care. CONCLUSIONS The identified predictors of workload are mostly associated with home nursing care. The results could be useful and applicable to different organisational models of HaH health systems. More studies that include physicians and proxy measures of workload are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- José A Cordero-Guevara
- Epidemiology and Public Health Group, Bioaraba Health Research Institute, C/ Isabel Orbe s/n., 01002, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Araba/Álava, Spain
| | - Naiara Parraza-Díez
- Epidemiology and Public Health Group, Bioaraba Health Research Institute, C/ Isabel Orbe s/n., 01002, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Araba/Álava, Spain.
- REDISSEC, Health Services Research On Chronic Patients Network, Madrid, Spain.
- Kronikgune Institute for Health Services Research, Barakaldo, Bizkaia, Spain.
| | - Kalliopi Vrotsou
- REDISSEC, Health Services Research On Chronic Patients Network, Madrid, Spain
- Primary Care Group, Biodonostia Health Research Institute, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Mónica Machón
- REDISSEC, Health Services Research On Chronic Patients Network, Madrid, Spain
- Primary Care Group, Biodonostia Health Research Institute, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Estibalitz Orruño
- Epidemiology and Public Health Group, Bioaraba Health Research Institute, C/ Isabel Orbe s/n., 01002, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Araba/Álava, Spain
| | - Miren J Onaindia-Ecenarro
- Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Barakaldo, Spain
- Osakidetza Basque Health Service, Galdakao University Hospital, Home Hospitalisation Unit, Galdakao, Spain
| | - Manuel Millet-Sampedro
- Osakidetza Basque Health Service, Bidasoa Hospital, Home Hospitalisation Unit, Hondarribia, Spain
| | - José Regalado de Los Cobos
- Osakidetza Basque Health Service, Araba University Hospital, Home Hospitalisation Unit, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
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Williams S, Morrissey AM, Steed F, Leahy A, Shanahan E, Peters C, O'Connor M, Galvin R, O'Riordan C. Early supported discharge for older adults admitted to hospital with medical complaints: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Geriatr 2022; 22:302. [PMID: 35395719 PMCID: PMC8990486 DOI: 10.1186/s12877-022-02967-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Early supported discharge (ESD) aims to link acute and community care, allowing hospital inpatients to return home and continue to receive the necessary input from healthcare professionals that they would otherwise receive in hospital. The concept has shown reduced length of stay and improved functional outcomes in stroke patients. This systematic review aims to explore the totality of evidence for the use of early supported discharge in older adults hospitalised with medical complaints. METHODS A literature search of CINAHL in EBSCO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials in the Cochrane Library (CENTRAL), EMBASE and MEDLINE in EBSCO was carried out. Randomised controlled trials or quasi-randomised controlled trials were included. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool 2.0 was used for quality assessment. The primary outcome measure was hospital length of stay. Secondary outcomes included mortality, function, health related quality of life, hospital readmissions, long-term care admissions and cognition. A pooled meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan software 5.4.1. RESULTS Five studies met the inclusion criteria. All studies were of some concern in terms of their risk of bias. Statistically significant effects favouring ESD interventions were only seen in terms of length of stay (REM, MD = -6.04, 95% CI -9.76 to -2.32, I2 = 90%, P = 0.001). No statistically significant effects favouring ESD interventions were established in secondary outcomes. CONCLUSION ESD interventions can have a statistically significant impact on the length of stay of older adults admitted to hospital for medical reasons. There is a need for further higher quality research in the area, with standardised interventions and outcome measures used.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Williams
- School of Allied Health, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, Ageing Research Centre, Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
| | - Ann-Marie Morrissey
- School of Allied Health, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, Ageing Research Centre, Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
| | - Fiona Steed
- Department of Medicine, University Hospital Limerick, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland
| | - Aoife Leahy
- School of Allied Health, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, Ageing Research Centre, Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.,Department of Ageing and Therapeutics, University Hospital Limerick, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland
| | - Elaine Shanahan
- Department of Ageing and Therapeutics, University Hospital Limerick, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland
| | - Catherine Peters
- Department of Ageing and Therapeutics, University Hospital Limerick, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland
| | - Margaret O'Connor
- Department of Ageing and Therapeutics, University Hospital Limerick, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland.,School of Medicine, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
| | - Rose Galvin
- School of Allied Health, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, Ageing Research Centre, Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
| | - Cliona O'Riordan
- School of Allied Health, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, Ageing Research Centre, Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
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Knight T, Lasserson D. Hospital at home for acute medical illness: The 21st century acute medical unit for a changing population. J Intern Med 2022; 291:438-457. [PMID: 34816527 DOI: 10.1111/joim.13394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Recent trends across Europe show a year-on-year increase in the number of patients with acute medical illnesses presenting to hospitals, yet there are no plans for a substantial expansion in acute hospital infrastructure or staffing to address demand. Strategies to meet increasing demand need to consider the fact that there is limited capacity in acute hospitals and focus on new care models in both hospital and community settings. Increasing the efficiency of acute hospital provision by reducing the length of stay entails supporting acute ambulatory care, where patients receive daily acute care interventions but do not stay overnight in the hospitals. This approach may entail daily transfer between home and an acute setting for ongoing treatment, which is unsuitable for some patients living with frailty. Acute hospital at home (HaH) is a care model which, thanks to advances in point of care diagnostic capability, can provide a credible model of acute medical assessment and treatment without the need for hospital transfer. Investment and training to support scaling up of HaH are key strategic aims for integrated healthcare systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Knight
- Department of Acute Medicine, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK
| | - Daniel Lasserson
- Acute Hospital at Home, Department of Geratology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK.,Division of Health Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
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Schiff R, Oyston M, Quinn M, Walters S, McEnhill P, Collins M. Hospital at Home: another piece of the armoury against COVID-19. Future Healthc J 2022; 9:90-95. [PMID: 35372768 PMCID: PMC8966799 DOI: 10.7861/fhj.2021-0137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Introduction Hospital at Home (@Home) services bring the ward to the patient, providing acute care in the home. The @Home team adapted to support the care of patients with COVID-19 in the community who would otherwise have required hospitalisation. Methods An evidence-based guideline and treatment bundle (dexamethasone, oxygen, intravenous fluids and thromboprophylaxis) for managing severe COVID-19 was developed. Data were retrospectively extracted from notes of patients with COVID-19 admitted between 16 December 2020 to 14 February 2021, and service users contacted for feedback. Results One-hundred and twenty-five adults with COVID-19 were treated by @Home; 42 severe (34%) and 83 non-severe (66%) infections; average length of stay was 7 days (interquartile range 4-8). Eight-hundred and seventy-five hospital-occupied bed days were saved. Service users emphasised the importance of being with loved ones and the value of respecting peoples' wishes to be at home. Conclusion @Home gave people with COVID-19 a choice of active treatment at home, thereby extending available healthcare capacity beyond the acute hospital setting.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Maria Oyston
- Guy's and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Matthew Quinn
- Guy's and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | | | - Paul McEnhill
- Guy's and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Megan Collins
- Guy's and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Hospital-at-home (HaH) provides acute healthcare in patients' homes as an alternative to traditional hospital inpatient care. HaH has been shown to improve clinical outcomes, increase patient satisfaction, and reduce hospitalization costs. Despite its effectiveness, the uptake of HaH remains slow and little is known about factors that impact the quality and transferability of HaH. This review aimed to qualitatively synthesize existing literature to examine the perspectives of stakeholders to identify areas of improvement in this model of care. METHODOLOGY Six electronic databases (Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PubMed, Embase, PsychINFO, Scopus, and Mednar) were searched from inception date until 3 February 2021. The included studies were assessed for quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program tool. This review was registered on the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews. The meta-synthesis was completed according to Sandelowski and Barroso's guidelines. RESULTS Sixteen articles met the inclusion criteria. The overarching synthesized theme was "the intricacies of developing HaH," and the four main themes were (1) factors influencing patient selection, (2) advantages of HaH, (3) challenges of HaH, and (4) enablers for HaH development. CONCLUSION Overall, high levels of satisfaction were expressed by various stakeholders. Continuity of care remains an important factor for patient-centeredness in HaH. Caregivers should be involved in the decision-making process and supported throughout the HaH duration to prevent caregiver burnout. Collaboration and coordination among healthcare professionals are vital and can be strengthened through training and technological advancements of remote patient monitoring. Institutional and organizational support for stakeholders may make HaH a viable solution to modern healthcare challenges.
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Patrick ME, Harder CK, Spina SP. Hospital at home: The role for clinical pharmacy in an innovative acute care model in British Columbia. Can Pharm J (Ott) 2022; 155:18-20. [PMID: 35035638 PMCID: PMC8756367 DOI: 10.1177/17151635211045951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2021] [Revised: 04/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Morgan E Patrick
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
| | - Curtis K Harder
- Victoria General Hospital, Vancouver Island Health Authority
| | - Sean P Spina
- Royal Jubilee Hospital, Vancouver Island Health Authority
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Schapira M, Outumuro MB, Giber F, Pino C, Mattiussi M, Montero-Odasso M, Boietti B, Saimovici J, Gallo C, Hornstein L, Pollán J, Garfi L, Osman A, Perman G. Geriatric co-management and interdisciplinary transitional care reduced hospital readmissions in frail older patients in Argentina: results from a randomized controlled trial. Aging Clin Exp Res 2022; 34:85-93. [PMID: 34100241 DOI: 10.1007/s40520-021-01893-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hospitalization is a moment of extreme vulnerability for frail older adults. There is scarce evidence on the effectiveness of geriatric co-management or transitional care interventions in Latin America. AIMS To assess whether geriatric co-management combined with an interdisciplinary transitional care intervention could reduce 30-day hospital readmission rate compared to usual care in hospitalized frail older patients in a tertiary hospital in Argentina. METHODS Single-blinded randomized controlled trial. Usual care treatment arm: all procedures performed during hospitalization were overseen by a senior internal medicine specialist and complied with pre-defined protocols. Patients had access to specialist care if needed, as well as hospital-at-home or home-based primary care services after discharge. Intervention treatment arm: in addition to usual care, a geriatric co-management team performed a comprehensive geriatric assessment during hospitalization, provided tailored recommendations to minimize geriatric syndromes and planned transition of care. A health and social care counselor oversaw continuity of care in patients' homes after discharge. RESULTS We included 120 participants in each of the intervention and usual care (control) arms. Thirty-day hospital readmissions were 47.7% lower in the intervention arm (18.3% vs 35.0%; P = 0.040); and emergency room visits within the first 6 months after discharge were 27.8% lower (43.3% vs 60.0%; P = 0.010). There was a non-statistically significant decrease in 6-month mortality in the intervention arm (25.0% vs 35.0%; P = 0.124). CONCLUSION Geriatric co-management of frail older patients during hospitalization combined with an interdisciplinary transitional care intervention reduced 30-day hospital readmissions and emergency visits 6 months after discharge. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER Trial registration number: RENIS IS003081.
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van Goor HMR, Breteler MJM, van Loon K, de Hond TAP, Reitsma JB, Zwart DLM, Kalkman CJ, Kaasjager KAH. Remote Hospital Care for Recovering COVID-19 Patients Using Telemedicine: A Randomised Controlled Trial. J Clin Med 2021; 10:5940. [PMID: 34945234 PMCID: PMC8706980 DOI: 10.3390/jcm10245940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Revised: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 12/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND To ensure availability of hospital beds and improve COVID-19 patients' well-being during the ongoing pandemic, hospital care could be offered at home. Retrospective studies show promising results of deploying remote hospital care to reduce the number of days spent in the hospital, but the beneficial effect has yet to be established. METHODS We conducted a single centre, randomised trial from January to June 2021, including hospitalised COVID-19 patients who were in the recovery stage of the disease. Hospital care for the intervention group was transitioned to the patient's home, including oxygen therapy, medication and remote monitoring. The control group received in-hospital care as usual. The primary endpoint was the number of hospital-free days during the 30 days following randomisation. Secondary endpoints included health care consumption during the follow-up period and mortality. RESULTS A total of 62 patients were randomised (31 control, 31 intervention). The mean difference in hospital-free days was 1.7 (26.7 control vs. 28.4 intervention, 95% CI of difference -0.5 to 4.2, p = 0.112). In the intervention group, the index hospital length of stay was 1.6 days shorter (95% CI -2.4 to -0.8, p < 0.001), but the total duration of care under hospital responsibility was 4.1 days longer (95% CI 0.5 to 7.7, p = 0.028). CONCLUSION Remote hospital care for recovering COVID-19 patients is feasible. However, we could not demonstrate an increase in hospital-free days in the 30 days following randomisation. Optimising the intervention, timing, and identification of patients who will benefit most from remote hospital care could improve the impact of this intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harriët M. R. van Goor
- Department of Internal Medicine, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands; (M.J.M.B.); (T.A.P.d.H.); (K.A.H.K.)
| | - Martine J. M. Breteler
- Department of Internal Medicine, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands; (M.J.M.B.); (T.A.P.d.H.); (K.A.H.K.)
- Department of Digital Health, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Department of Anaesthesiology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands; (K.v.L.); (C.J.K.)
| | - Kim van Loon
- Department of Anaesthesiology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands; (K.v.L.); (C.J.K.)
| | - Titus A. P. de Hond
- Department of Internal Medicine, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands; (M.J.M.B.); (T.A.P.d.H.); (K.A.H.K.)
| | - Johannes B. Reitsma
- Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care, Department of Epidemiology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands;
| | - Dorien L. M. Zwart
- Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care, Department of General Practice, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands;
| | - Cornelis J. Kalkman
- Department of Anaesthesiology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands; (K.v.L.); (C.J.K.)
| | - Karin A. H. Kaasjager
- Department of Internal Medicine, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands; (M.J.M.B.); (T.A.P.d.H.); (K.A.H.K.)
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Oliver D. David Oliver: Zealotry risks making faster hospital discharge a cult. BMJ 2021; 375:n2994. [PMID: 34880070 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.n2994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Kim JH, Shin YS. Discharge Transition Experience for Lumbar Fusion Patients: A Qualitative Study. J Neurosci Nurs 2021; 53:228-232. [PMID: 34620802 PMCID: PMC8575165 DOI: 10.1097/jnn.0000000000000616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Support should be provided to individuals who are ready to be discharged; however, quantitative research is lacking in understanding the challenges of postsurgery lumbar fusion patients' discharge and transition. This article delves into the in-depth experience of lumbar fusion patients with discharge transitions. METHODS: We conducted semistructured individual interviews with 11 patients who had lumbar fusion surgery at one of Korea's most equipped general hospitals. These interviews focused on the patients' discharge transition experiences. The data were analyzed using phenomenological analysis. RESULTS: Lumbar fusion patients' experiences of discharge transition fit into 4 categories: anticipation of surgical transition, the process of transition to discharge, the difficult process of recovery, and recovery strategy. CONCLUSION: To further expedite the discharge process and make better use of cooperative hospital resources, conducting preoperative treatment planning, identifying family and social support systems, and sharing treatment procedures are all required. Furthermore, thorough health information services and step-by-step courses on predicted problems and everyday living after surgery should be considered for postoperative education. It is critical to broadening the scope of preoperative and postoperative education programs, as well as assistance for the social support system, such as the family-based support system and cooperative hospitals.
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Hospital at Home for Intrathecal Pump Refills: A Prospective Effectiveness, Safety and Feasibility Study. J Clin Med 2021; 10:jcm10225353. [PMID: 34830635 PMCID: PMC8617747 DOI: 10.3390/jcm10225353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Revised: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Continuous Intrathecal Drug Delivery through an implanted pump is a well-known therapeutic option for the management of chronic pain and severe disabling spasticity. To have a successful therapy, pump refills need to be performed at regular time intervals after implantation. In line with the increased applications of Hospital at Home, these refill procedures might be performed at the patient’s home. The aim of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and effectiveness of intrathecal pump refill procedures at home. Twenty patients were included whereby pump refill procedures were conducted at the patient’s home. To enable contact with the hospital, a video connection was set-up. Tele-ultrasound was used as post-refill verification. All procedures were successfully performed with complete patient satisfaction. Ninety-five percent of the patients felt safe during the procedure, and 95% of the procedures felt safe according to the physician. All patients indicated that they preferred their next refill at home. The median time consumption for the physician/nurse at the patient’s home was 26 min and for the researcher at the hospital 15 min. In light of quality enhancement programs and personalized care, it is important to continue urgent pain management procedures in a safe way, even during a pandemic.
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Mommersteeg PMC, Roeters van Lennep J, Widdershoven J. Cardiac medication use in patients with suspected ischaemia without obstructive coronary arteries: sex differences and psychological distress. Neth Heart J 2021; 29:506-517. [PMID: 33954871 PMCID: PMC8455771 DOI: 10.1007/s12471-021-01569-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Ischaemia without obstructive coronary arteries (INOCA) is more prevalent in women and associated with psychological distress. Pharmacological treatment goals are angina relief and cardiovascular risk management. The present study aims to examine sex differences in cardiac and non-cardiac medication use, as well as medication and sex differences related to consistent psychological distress in patients with suspected INOCA. DESIGN A TweeSteden mild stenosis observational cohort study in patients with suspected INOCA as detected by ischaemic reason for referral and non-obstructive arteries based on coronary angiography or computed tomography. METHODS Medication documented in the hospital records of 488 patients (53% women) was coded as angina relief medication, blood-pressure-lowering medication, antithrombotics, statins, and non-cardiac medication, using the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical code. Depressive symptoms and anxiety were recoded as 'consistent distress' (above the cut-off score for depression and anxiety on validated questionnaires), 'inconsistent distress' (above the cut-off for depression or anxiety) or 'no distress' (below the cut-off). RESULTS No sex differences were observed in cardiac medication use. Women used anxiolytic benzodiazepines more often (12% vs 4%, p = 0.002) compared to men. Consistent distress was more prevalent in women (22% vs 15%, p = 0.004) and was related to the use of more angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers and diuretics in women and to calcium antagonist use as well as lower adherence levels in men. Women who reported chest pain more often received angina relief medication and blood-pressure-lowering medication than men. CONCLUSION No sex differences were observed in cardiac medication use in patients with suspected INOCA. Psychological distress may reflect hypertension and subsequent medication use in women, and experiencing chest pain and subsequent medication use in men.
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Affiliation(s)
- P M C Mommersteeg
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Centre of Research on Psychology in Somatic Diseases, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
| | - J Roeters van Lennep
- Department of Internal Medicine, Vascular Medicine, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - J Widdershoven
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Centre of Research on Psychology in Somatic Diseases, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands
- Department of Cardiology, Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital, Tilburg, The Netherlands
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Aasen L, Johannessen AK, Ruud Knutsen I, Werner A. The work of nurses to provide good and safe services to children receiving hospital-at-home: A qualitative interview study from the perspectives of hospital nurses and physicians. J Clin Nurs 2021; 31:2495-2506. [PMID: 34570945 DOI: 10.1111/jocn.16062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Revised: 09/08/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
AIM To explore and describe the work performed by the nurses providing hospital-at-home care to children and their families from the perspectives of hospital nurses and physicians. BACKGROUND To reduce capacity pressure on hospitals, various ambulatory services combining hospital and home treatment have emerged. Studies have shown that children and their families are satisfied with hospital-at-home when the parents experienced the professionals possessed the necessary competences. Knowledge is limited about nurses and physicians' perspectives on the work performed and competence needed when children receive hospital treatment in the family's home. DESIGN A qualitative descriptive design with semi-structured interviews was used. Sixteen nurses and physicians from two hospitals in Norway working in hospital-at-home for children were recruited to interview. Data were analysed using systematic text condensation. In preparing the manuscript, we applied the COREQ guidelines. The theory on 'expert nursing' supported the discussion of results. RESULTS We identified three categories through analysis; building a trustful relationship with the family and the sick child; performing essential skills in paediatric nursing care in hospital-at-home; and nurses serving as the 'hub' between the different parties. CONCLUSION The results demonstrate the complexity of the work performed by hospital nurses when children received hospital-at-home. Building a trustful relationship and alliance with the child and the family formed the cornerstone of accomplishing good and safe paediatric care. The nurses became a coordinating and collaborating 'hub' for actors involved, taking care of patient safety on a daily basis. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE The way the nurses approached the children and their families, was the core element of the paediatric nursing expertise and important for the service quality and patient safety. The importance of building a trustful relationship needs to be more acknowledged, and the services would benefit to organise this through continuity of care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Line Aasen
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Nursing and Health Promotion, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
| | - Anne-Kari Johannessen
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Nursing and Health Promotion, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway.,Health Services Research Unit, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway
| | - Ingrid Ruud Knutsen
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Nursing and Health Promotion, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
| | - Anne Werner
- Health Services Research Unit, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway
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Agnew JMR, Hanratty CE, McVeigh JG, Nugent C, Kerr DP. An investigation into the use of mHealth in musculoskeletal physiotherapy: Scoping Review (Preprint). JMIR Rehabil Assist Technol 2021; 9:e33609. [PMID: 35275089 PMCID: PMC8956993 DOI: 10.2196/33609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Revised: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Musculoskeletal physiotherapy provides conservative management for a range of conditions. Currently, there is a lack of engagement with exercise programs because of the lack of supervision and low self-efficacy. The use of mobile health (mHealth) interventions could be a possible solution to this problem, helping promote self-management at home. However, there is little evidence for musculoskeletal physiotherapy on the most effective forms of mHealth. Objective The aim of this review is to investigate the literature focusing on the use of mHealth in musculoskeletal physiotherapy and summarize the evidence. Methods A scoping review of 6 peer-reviewed databases was conducted in March 2021. No date limits were applied, and only articles written in the English language were selected. A reviewer screened all the articles, followed by 2 additional researchers screening a random sample before data extraction. Results Of the 1393 studies, 28 (2.01%) were identified. Intervention characteristics comprised stretching and strengthening exercises, primarily for degenerative joint pain and spinal conditions (5/28, 18%). The most reported use of mHealth included telephone and videoconferencing calls to provide a home exercise program or being used as an adjunct to physiotherapy musculoskeletal assessment (14/28, 50%). Although patient satisfaction with mHealth was reported to be high, reasons for disengagement included a lack of high-quality information and poor internet speeds. Barriers to clinical uptake included insufficient training with the intervention and a lack of time to become familiar. Conclusions mHealth has some benefits regarding treatment adherence and can potentially be as effective as normal physiotherapy care while being more cost-effective. The current use of mHealth is most effective when ongoing feedback from a health care professional is available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathon M R Agnew
- Discipline in Physiotherapy, School of Life and Health Sciences, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, United Kingdom
| | - Catherine E Hanratty
- Discipline in Physiotherapy, School of Life and Health Sciences, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, United Kingdom
| | - Joseph G McVeigh
- Discipline of Physiotherapy, School of Clinical Therapies, College of Medicine and Health, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Chris Nugent
- Discipline in Computing, School of Computing, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel P Kerr
- Discipline in Physiotherapy, School of Life and Health Sciences, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, United Kingdom
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Hospital and outpatient models for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A systematic review of comparative studies for health outcomes, experience of care and costs. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0254135. [PMID: 34383780 PMCID: PMC8360565 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The number of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantations has risen in the past 20 years. The practice of outpatient Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation programs is increasing in an attempt to improve the quality of patient care and reduce the demand for hospital admission. A systematic review of 29 comparative studies between in-hospital and outpatient treatment of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, with no restriction by outpatient regime was conducted. This study aims to analyse the current evidence on the effects of the outpatient model on patient-centred outcomes, comparing both in-hospital and outpatient models for autologous and allogeneic HSCT using the Triple Aim framework: health outcomes, costs and experience of care. We found evidence on improved health outcomes and quality of life, on enhanced safety and effectiveness and on reduced overall costs and hospital stays, with similar results on overall survival rates comparing both models for autologous and allogeneic patients. We also found that the outpatient Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation is a safe practice as well as less costly, it requires fewer days of hospital stay both for autologous and allogeneic transplantations. Under a situation of an increasing number of transplants, rising healthcare costs and shortages of hospital capacity, incorporating outpatient models could improve the quality of care for people requiring Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation programs.
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Schultz TJ, Thomas A, Georgiou P, Juaton MS, Cusack L, Simon L, Naidoo K, Webb K, Karnon J, Ravindran J. Home infusions of natalizumab for people with multiple sclerosis: a pilot randomised crossover trial. Ann Clin Transl Neurol 2021; 8:1610-1621. [PMID: 34288591 PMCID: PMC8351394 DOI: 10.1002/acn3.51410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 05/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The delivery of healthcare at home has expanded to intravenous infusions of monoclonal antibodies. A recently developed model of care for home infusions of natalizumab for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis was evaluated. This pilot study of home infusions of natalizumab and usual care (attendance in a hospital out-patients' clinic) compared safety, feasibility, patient satisfaction, effectiveness and costs. METHODS In this randomised AB/BA crossover trial, 37 adults were randomised to usual care (n = 19) or home infusions (n = 18). After three infusions, patients crossed over to the alternate treatment for another three infusions. Patient safety outcomes and adherence, satisfaction, quality of life, disability and costs were compared. RESULTS No adverse events were recorded from 207 infusions from 35 patients across both home and clinic infusions. There was no difference in adherence (p = 0.71) and infection rates (p = 0.84) between home and clinic settings. Satisfaction with "convenience" of home infusions was significantly greater (p = 0.008) but there were no differences in quality of life measures. Excluding pharmacy, costs were A$74 lower per infusion at home, including A$16 of patients" out-of-pocket costs. INTERPRETATION There were no differences in safety and effectiveness between clinic and home infusions of natalizumab. The home infusions were shown to be feasible, more convenient and less expensive than usual care. Larger scale studies are required to verify these preliminary findings, particularly around safety and management of hypersensitivity adverse events in the home setting and for equivalence of clinical outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy J. Schultz
- Adelaide Nursing SchoolUniversity of AdelaideAdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
- Present address:
Flinders Health and Medical Research InstituteFlinders UniversityAdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
| | - Anne Thomas
- Post Op Care at Home (Pty Ltd)AdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
| | - Paul Georgiou
- Medical Day Treatment UnitRoyal Adelaide HospitalAdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
| | - Mahasen S. Juaton
- Adelaide Nursing SchoolUniversity of AdelaideAdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
| | - Lynette Cusack
- Adelaide Nursing SchoolUniversity of AdelaideAdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
| | - Lorraine Simon
- Medical Day Treatment UnitRoyal Adelaide HospitalAdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
| | - Kerisha Naidoo
- Biogen Australia and New ZealandSydneyNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Kevin Webb
- Neurology & Stroke UnitRoyal Adelaide HospitalAdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
| | - Jonathan Karnon
- College of Medicine and Public HealthFlinders UniversityAdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
| | - Janakan Ravindran
- Neurology & Stroke UnitRoyal Adelaide HospitalAdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
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Lai YF, Lim YW, Kuan WS, Goh J, Soong JTY, Shorey S, Ko SQ. Asian Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Hospital-At-Home: A Cross-Sectional Study. Front Public Health 2021; 9:704465. [PMID: 34368067 PMCID: PMC8343062 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.704465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Accepted: 06/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Hospital-at-Home (HaH) programmes are well-established in Australia, Europe, and the United States. However, there is limited experience in Asia, where the hospital is traditionally seen as a safe and trusted space for healing. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore attitudes and perceptions among patients and caregivers in Singapore toward this care model. Methods: A quantitative study design was adopted to collect data among patients and their caregivers from medical wards within two acute hospitals in Singapore. Using a series of closed-ended and open-ended questions, the investigator-administered survey aimed to explore barriers and facilitators determining patients' and caregivers' responses. The study questionnaire was pretested and validated. Data were summarised using descriptive statistics, and logistic regression was performed to determine key factors influencing patients' decisions to enrol in such programmes. Results: Survey responses were collected from 120 participants (101 patients, 19 caregivers; response rate: 76%), of which 87 respondents (72.5%) expressed willingness to try HaH if offered. Many respondents valued non-quantifiable programme benefits, including perceived gains in quality of life. Among them, reasons cited for acceptance included preference for the comfort of their home environment, presence of family members, and confidence toward remote monitoring modalities. Among respondents who were unwilling to accept HaH, a common reason indicated was stronger confidence toward hospital care. Discussion: Most patients surveyed were open to having acute care delivered in their home environment, and concerns expressed may largely be addressed by operational considerations. The findings provide useful insights toward the planning of HaH programmes in Singapore.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Feng Lai
- Ministry of Health (MOH) Office for Healthcare Transformation, Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Pharmacy, Alexandra Hospital, Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Yee Wei Lim
- Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Win Sen Kuan
- Emergency Medicine Department, National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Joel Goh
- National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Global Asia Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | - Shefaly Shorey
- Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Stephanie Q. Ko
- Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore
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Bourbeau J, Echevarria C. Models of care across the continuum of exacerbations for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Chron Respir Dis 2021; 17:1479973119895457. [PMID: 31970998 PMCID: PMC6978821 DOI: 10.1177/1479973119895457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are associated with
significant morbidity and mortality, and treatments require a multidisciplinary
approach to address patient needs. This review considers different models of
care across the continuum of exacerbations (1) chronic care and self-management
interventions with the action plan, (2) domiciliary care for severe exacerbation
and the impact on readmission prevention and (3) the discharge care bundle for
management beyond the acute exacerbation episode. Self-management strategies
include written action plans and coaching with patient and family support.
Self-management interventions facilitate the delivery of good care, can reduce
exacerbations associated with admission, be cost-effective and improve quality
of life. Hospitalization as a complication of exacerbation is not always
unavoidable. Domiciliary care has been proposed as a solution to replace part,
and perhaps even all, of the patient’s in-hospital stay, and to reduce hospital
bed days, readmission rates and costs; low-risk patients can be identified using
risk stratification tools. A COPD discharge bundle is another potentially
important approach that can be considered to improve the management of COPD
exacerbations complicated by hospital admission; it comprised treatments that
have demonstrated efficacy, such as smoking cessation, personalized
pharmacotherapy and non-pharmacotherapy such as pulmonary rehabilitation. COPD
bundles may also improve the transition of care from the hospital to the
community following exacerbation and may reduce readmission rates. Future models
of care should be personalized – providing patient education aiming at behaviour
changes, identifying and treating co-morbidities, and including outcomes that
measure quality of care rather than focusing only on readmission quantity within
30 days.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean Bourbeau
- Respiratory Epidemiology and Clinical Research Unit, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Carlos Echevarria
- Respiratory Department, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Karacaoglu K, Leask CF. Staff views of a hospital at home model implemented in a Scottish care setting. AIMS Public Health 2021; 8:467-478. [PMID: 34395696 PMCID: PMC8334636 DOI: 10.3934/publichealth.2021036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose Demographic and financial challenges mean prioritising a shift in healthcare provision from acute to community settings. One well-evidenced model encapsulating this is 'hospital at home', however limited research has examined staffs' views on its implementation, which may inform service development and increase job satisfaction. The aim within was to explore the staff perspective of implementing a 'hospital at home' model in a Scottish care setting which can inform service provision and ultimately increase job satisfaction. Methods The 'Acute Care @ Home' (AC@H) service had a multi-disciplinary team. Referrals were predominantly received from a geriatric hospital ward. Inclusion criteria were older adults with geriatric syndromes and who required care input for a duration between one to seven days. In-depth staff interviews (N = 13) were conducted and analysed thematically to understand barriers and facilitators to implementation. These were supplemented with questionnaires assessing constructs of interest including training, communication and overall satisfaction. Results Several themes urged from our study: inter-team and intra-team collaboration, service development and operation, and scaling considerations. High job satisfaction was reported (mean score 73%), particularly due to a perceived non-hierarchical team structure and inclusive management style. Staff attributed positive outcomes through better identifying patients' needs at home compared to in hospital. Continuity of care facilitated rapport building. Recruitment challenges restricted the acuity and volume of patients the team were able to care for. Conclusions This qualitative methodology could be useful for future implementation of intermediate care resources for the future health and care system building. Patient assessments at home, as opposed to in hospital, in conjunction with care continuity by staff, may mitigate against hospital risks and better facilitate reablement. Where recruitment challenges are present, agile models of care delivery should be considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine Karacaoglu
- Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership, Marischal College, Broad St, Aberdeen, UK.,Health Intelligence Department, NHS Grampian, Eday Rd, Aberdeen, UK
| | - Calum F Leask
- Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership, Marischal College, Broad St, Aberdeen, UK.,Health Intelligence Department, NHS Grampian, Eday Rd, Aberdeen, UK
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Arsenault-Lapierre G, Henein M, Gaid D, Le Berre M, Gore G, Vedel I. Hospital-at-Home Interventions vs In-Hospital Stay for Patients With Chronic Disease Who Present to the Emergency Department: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open 2021; 4:e2111568. [PMID: 34100939 PMCID: PMC8188269 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.11568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Importance Hospitalizations are costly and may lead to adverse events; hospital-at-home interventions could be a substitute for in-hospital stays, particularly for patients with chronic diseases who use health services more than other patients. Despite showing promising results, heterogeneity in past systematic reviews remains high. Objective To systematically review and assess the association between patient outcomes and hospital-at-home interventions as a substitute for in-hospital stay for community-dwelling patients with a chronic disease who present to the emergency department and are offered at least 1 home visit from a nurse and/or physician. Data Sources Databases were searched from date of inception to March 4, 2019. The databases were Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Ovid PsycINFO, CINAHL, Health Technology Assessment, the Cochrane Library, OVID Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and ClinicalTrials.gov. Study Selection Randomized clinical trials in which the experimental group received hospital-at-home interventions and the control group received the usual in-hospital care. Patients were 18 years or older with a chronic disease who presented to the emergency department and received home visits from a nurse or physician. Data Extraction and Synthesis Risk of bias was assessed, and a meta-analysis was conducted for outcomes that were reported by at least 2 studies using comparable measures. Risk ratios (RRs) were reported for binary outcomes and mean differences for continuous outcomes. Narrative synthesis was performed for other outcomes. Main Outcomes and Measures Outcomes of interest were patient outcomes, which included mortality, long-term care admission, readmission, length of treatment, out-of-pocket costs, depression and anxiety, quality of life, patient satisfaction, caregiver stress, cognitive status, nutrition, morbidity due to hospitalization, functional status, and neurological deficits. Results Nine studies were included, providing data on 959 participants (median age, 71.0 years [interquartile range, 70.0-79.9 years]; 613 men [63.9%]; 346 women [36.1%]). Mortality did not differ between the hospital-at-home and the in-hospital care groups (RR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.61-1.15; I2 = 0%). Risk of readmission was lower (RR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.57-0.95; I2 = 31%) and length of treatment was longer in the hospital-at-home group than in the in-hospital group (mean difference, 5.45 days; 95% CI, 1.91-8.97 days; I2 = 87%). In addition, the hospital-at-home group had a lower risk of long-term care admission than the in-hospital care group (RR, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.03-0.74; I2 = 0%). Patients who received hospital-at-home interventions had lower depression and anxiety than those who remained in-hospital, but there was no difference in functional status. Other patient outcomes showed mixed results. Conclusions and Relevance The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that hospital-at-home interventions represent a viable substitute to an in-hospital stay for patients with chronic diseases who present to the emergency department and who have at least 1 visit from a nurse or physician. Although the heterogeneity of the findings remained high for some outcomes, particularly for length of treatment, the heterogeneity of this study was comparable to that of past reviews and further explored.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mary Henein
- Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Dina Gaid
- School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Mélanie Le Berre
- Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Université de Montréal, Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Genevieve Gore
- Schulich Library of Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Engineering, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Isabelle Vedel
- Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
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Nystrøm V, Lurås H, Midlöv P, Leonardsen ACL. What if something happens tonight? A qualitative study of primary care physicians' perspectives on an alternative to hospital admittance. BMC Health Serv Res 2021; 21:447. [PMID: 33975573 PMCID: PMC8112060 DOI: 10.1186/s12913-021-06444-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Due to demographic changes, hospital emergency departments in many countries are overcrowded. Internationally, several primary healthcare models have been introduced as alternatives to hospitalisation. In Norway, municipal acute wards (MAWs) have been implemented as primary care wards that provide observation and medical treatment for 24 h. The intention is to replace hospitalisation for patients who require acute admission but not specialist healthcare services. The aim of this study was to explore primary care physicians' (PCPs') perspectives on admission to a MAW as an alternative to hospitalisation. METHODS The study had a qualitative design, including interviews with 21 PCPs in a county in southeastern Norway. Data were analysed with a thematic approach. RESULTS The PCPs described uncertainty when referring patients to the MAW because of the fewer diagnostic opportunities there than in the hospital. Admission of patients to the MAW was assumed to be unsafe for both PCPs, MAW nurses and physicians. The PCPs assumed that medical competence was lower at the MAW than in the hospital, which led to scepticism about whether their tentative diagnoses would be reconsidered if needed and whether a deterioration of the patients' condition would be detected. When referring patients to a MAW, the PCPs experienced disagreements with MAW personnel about the suitability of the patient. The PCPs emphasised the importance of patients' and relatives' participation in decisions about the level of treatment. Nevertheless, such participation was not always possible, especially when patients' wishes conflicted with what PCPs considered professionally sound. CONCLUSIONS The PCPs reported concerns regarding the use of MAWs as an alternative to hospitalisation. These concerns were related to fewer diagnostic opportunities, lower medical expertise throughout the day, uncertainty about the selection of patients and challenges with user participation. Consequently, these concerns had an impact on how the PCPs utilised MAW services.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivian Nystrøm
- Department of Health and Welfare, Østfold University College, (PB) 700, 1757 Halden, Norway
| | - Hilde Lurås
- Health Services Research Unit, Akershus University Hospital, (PB) 1000, 1478 Lørenskog, Norway
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, Campus Ahus, University of Oslo, Lørenskog, Norway
| | - Patrik Midlöv
- Center for Primary Health Care Research, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Lund University, (PB) 50332, 202 13 Malmö, Sweden
| | - Ann-Chatrin Linqvist Leonardsen
- Department of Health and Welfare, Østfold University College, (PB) 700, 1757 Halden, Norway
- Østfold Hospital Trust, Halden, Norway
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