Home Hospital for Suddenly Ill Adults

Summary

The investigators propose a home hospital model of care that substitutes for treatment in an acute care hospital. Limited studies of the home hospital model have demonstrated that a sizeable proportion of acute care can be delivered in the home with equal quality and safety, reduced cost, and improved patient experience.

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

* Resides within either a 5-mile or 20 minute driving radius of emergency department
* Has capacity to consent to study OR can assent to study and has proxy who can consent
* \>= 18 years-old
* Can identify a potential caregiver who agrees to stay with patient for first 24 hours of admission. Caregiver must be competent to call care team if a problem is evident to her/him. After 24 hours, this caregiver should be available for as-needed spot checks on the patient. This criterion may be waived for highly competent patients at the patient and clinician's discretion.
* Primary or possible diagnosis of cellulitis, heart failure, complicated urinary tract infection, pneumonia, COPD/asthma, other infection, chronic kidney disease, malignant pain, diabetes and its complications, gout flare, hypertensive urgency, previously diagnosed atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response, anticoagulation needs, or a patient who desires only medical management that requires inpatient admission, as determined by the emergency room team.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Undomiciled
* No working heat (October-April), no working air conditioning if forecast \> 80°F (June-September), or no running water
* On methadone requiring daily pickup of medication
* In police custody
* Resides in facility that provides on-site medical care (e.g., skilled nursing facility)
* Domestic violence screen positive
* Acute delirium, as determined by the Confusion Assessment Method
* Cannot establish peripheral access in emergency department (or access requires ultrasound guidance)
* Secondary condition: end-stage renal disease, acute myocardial infarction, acute cerebral vascular accident, acute hemorrhage
* Primary diagnosis requires multiple or routine administrations of intravenous narcotics for pain control
* Cannot independently ambulate to bedside commode
* As deemed by on-call medical doctor, patient likely to require any of the following procedures: computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, endoscopic procedure, blood transfusion, cardiac stress test, or surgery
* High risk for clinical deterioration
* Home hospital census is full (maximum 5 patients at any time)

Conditions10

Locations2 sites

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