Why Healthcare is Moving Home

  

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Home healthcare is becoming an increasingly viable and even preferred option among patients today. In places around the country from New Mexico to New York, home health agencies are providing a huge variety of care services which focus on coordination and support for the individual.

Steven H. Landers, M.D, said “that the venue of care for the future is the patient's home, where clinicians can combine old-fashioned sensibilities and caring with the application of new technologies to respond to major demographic, epidemiologic, and health care trends”[1]. He isolates five major trends which are making home healthcare preferable for many including aging, epidemics of chronic diseases, technological advances, health care consumerism and increasing health care costs.

First, the aging population of the US will result in more adults having limitations on their activities, making leaving their homes for hospital care difficult. Therefore, home healthcare options have improved access and helped prevent complications due to hospital confinement such as delirium and falls.

Second, epidemics of chronic disease have become bigger concerns since around 90% of adults over the age of 65 have at least one chronic condition. The Chronic Care Model concludes that since patients manage their diseases at home, support and recovery are likely to be enhanced when care is provided there as well.

Third, advances in portability of medical technology have increased the viability of home health options. This has opened up the field and allowed nurses to treat patients in unexpected places already and should only improve as capabilities expand in the coming years.

Fourth, health care consumerism means that patients are looking for the best deals and that has pushed care to more convenient locations as well. Patients and caregivers want convenience and privacy, and as care models are developed to bring high-quality care home through the front door or mobile device, they may well surpass hospitals.

Lastly, in-home care is often much less costly for patients and can be more desirable which offers everyone a win-win solution. Landers concludes that “in one study of a hospital-at-home approach, patients who received care at home had lower rates of consultations, procedures, and use of devices than their hospitalized counterparts but had similar or better clinical outcomes” [1].