From the American Hospital Association (link: https://www.aha.org/aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2024-04-09-providers-betting-big-future-hospital-home):
Mass General Brigham wants to move 10% of its medical patients to home care. “That’s just our starting point,” said Heather O’Sullivan, R.N. and president of the system’s Healthcare at Home, in March at HIMSS. “There’s actually research out there showing that 30% to 40% of all care provided in the U.S. today can be moved to the home.”
Mass General Brigham has one of the largest acute care-at-home programs in the country. It expanded to 50 beds in March and plans to have 70 beds by the end of 2024. The health system’s move to home care has been fueled by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCAH) initiative, which is set to expire at the end of the year. Hospitals approved for the AHCAH waiver can provide inpatient-level care in the home for Medicare fee-for-service and non-managed care Medicaid beneficiaries.
The hospital at home (H@H) model has grown significantly since CMS launched its waiver program in 2020 to help mitigate capacity issues during COVID-19. A growing body of research shows that the model is an effective strategy that can shorten length of stay, reduce readmission rates, prevent health care-acquired infections and lower health care costs.
However, many health systems depend on the CMS waiver to sustain their programs and are struggling to expand or develop long-term plans with the threat of losing that reimbursement at year’s end.
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