27. Bringing the Hospital to Your Home in Australia

Ever wish you could skip noisy hospitals and heal in your own bed? We explore Hospital at Home, a game-changing model that brings acute care—from IV meds to 24/7 monitoring—directly to your living room. We trace how this 1990s pilot became a global trend, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and new government payment models. Michael Montalto shares how Hospital at Home prevents unnecessary hospital admissions and emergency department visits and reduces healthcare costs in Australia. We also weigh the downsides, including caregiver stress and lack of integration with primary care.References:Levine DM, Souza J, Schnipper JL, et al. Acute Hospital Care at Home in the United States: The Early National Experience. Ann Intern Med. 2024;177(2):238-241. doi:10.7326/M23-2264Edgar K, Iliffe S, Doll HA, et al. Admission avoidance hospital at home. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2024;(3):CD007491. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007491.pub3Patient Safety Network. Hospital at Home? Care Reduces Costs, Readmissions, and Complications and Enhances Satisfaction for Elderly Patients. PSNet. April 7, 2021.Montalto M, McElduff P, Hardy K. Home ward bound: features of hospital in the home use by major Australian hospitals, 2011–2017. Med J Aust. 2020;213(1):22-27. doi:10.5694/mja2.50599Pandit JA, Pawelek JB, Leff B, Topol EJ. The hospital at home in the USA: current status and future prospects. NPJ Digit Med. 2024;7:49. doi:10.1038/s41746-024-01040-9Patel HY, West DJ Jr. Hospital at Home: An Evolving Model for Comprehensive Healthcare. Glob J Qual Saf Healthc. 2021;4(4):141-146. doi:10.36401/JQSH-21-4Wallis JA, Shepperd S, Makela P, et al. Factors influencing the implementation of early discharge hospital at home and admission avoidance hospital at home: a qualitative evidence synthesis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2024;(3):CD014765. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD014765.pub2Truong TT, Siu AL. The Evolving Practice of Hospital at Home in the United States. Annu Rev Med. 2024;75:391-399. doi:10.1146/annurev-med-051022-042210Arsenault-Lapierre G, Henein M, Gaid D, et al. Hospital-at-Home Interventions vs In-Hospital Stay for Patients With Chronic Disease Who Present to the Emergency Department: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(6):e2111568. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.11568