Key Points
Question
Are hospital-at-home interventions consisting of, at minimum, home visits from nurses or physicians associated with better patient outcomes for adult patients with a chronic disease who present to an emergency department?
Findings
This systematic review of 9 randomized clinical trial studies, including 959 adult patients with a chronic disease, found that although patients receiving hospital-at-home care had an average length of treatment of 5.4 days longer than that of in-hospital patients and a similar mortality risk, they had a lower risk for readmission by 26% and a lower risk for long-term care admission relative to the in-hospital group. Patients who received hospital-at-home care also had lower depression and anxiety scores than patients receiving in-hospital care, but there was no difference in functional status.
Meaning
This systematic review provides further evidence that hospital-at-home interventions with at least 1 home visit from a nurse or physician may be a promising substitute to in-hospital care, especially for patients with chronic diseases who present to the emergency department.