Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health took to Washington, D.C., to explain the value of its hospital-at-home program.
Here are five things to know:
1. Advocate Health subsidiary Atrium Health has one of the largest hospital-at-home initiatives in the country, with an average daily census in the mid-70s and the capacity to treat 80 patients at a time.
2. However, a CMS waiver to reimburse for acute hospital care at home is set to expire Dec. 31 without congressional action.
3. The Bipartisan Policy Center hosted Advocate Health officials Nov. 14 on Capitol Hill for an educational event about hospital at home, including Scott Rissmiller, MD, executive vice president and chief physician executive at the 69-hospital system.
4. Advocate Health leaders said the program facilitates deeper insights into patients' needs beyond medical treatment and connects them to community resources to navigate those barriers. "One of the most common things that we're bringing into the home is actually food, and if we weren't going into the home, you would never know (they needed) that, because people will feel shame around that," said Colleen Hole, BSN, innovation strategic advisor at Advocate Health, according to a Nov. 20 Bipartisan Policy Center blog post.
5. Advocate Health also delivered an interactive hospital-at-home demonstration, showing the technology and wearable medical devices used to power the care model.