Hospitaized treatment at home? That is what some health facilities are suggesting to patients in an effort to cut down on costs while also improving care.
It is part of a number of pilot programs around the country testing out the new strategy, and being funded in many cases by grants.
At Mount Sinai in New York, they are testing out a system that allows home care instead of a hospital only in specific situations. It is made possible by a $10 million grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, according to The New York Times.
“I am very confident that we’re going to be able to show that patients want to be home, that we can do this safely, and that we can do this with savings,” Dr. Linda DeCherrie, an Associate Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Care Medicine at Mount Sinai and Clinical Director of the new program, told The New York Times.
The criteria to participate in the program is determined by the doctors, before it is suggested to the patient.
According to the article, a recent study done on the subject, and published in the The Annals of Internal Medicine, showed most patients liked the idea of being treated at home, their treatments cost less and they were hospitalized for shorter periods of time.
