Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C., has treated 52 patients through its hospital-at-home program since its official launch in March. The hospital is now focused on expanding the program to other regions, aiming to admit around 10 patients per day by the end of the year.
"Part of our plan to scale up involves our geographic region," Christy Spivey, RN, BNS, senior director of hospital-based medicine for Novant Health's coastal region, said in an Aug. 26 blog post. Since its launch, Novant has expanded the hospital-at-home program to two counties and eventually hopes to expand to Brunswick County.
The program, which treats patients with chronic disease flare ups, low risk conditions or those recovering from surgery, is staffed by seven physicians at the hospital who provide care virtually to patients and a nurse at the hospital's command center. Community paramedics also play a large role. Novant's hospital-at-home program currently works with two paramedics, who set up the virtual equipment needed for at-home care, and are trained on safety to eliminate potential fall risks.
On average, two or three patients are admitted to the program each day. As expansion efforts take effect, the system expects to see this number grow to 10 by the end of the year. The average length of stay is three or four days, with the longest so far being 12 days.
Despite uncertainty surrounding the reimbursement of acute care delivered at home, many hospitals have continued to seek CMS approval for their programs this year. CMS' waiver for hospitals to provide acute care at home is set to expire Dec. 31, though legislation to extend funding through 2029 is making its way through Congress. As of March, CMS had approved more than 320 hospitals in 37 states to offer acute level care in the home.