Hospital-at-home Integrated Care Program for Older Patients With Orthopedic Processes: An Efficient Alternative to Usual Hospital-Based Care

Abstract

Objective To compare outcomes and costs for patients with orthogeriatric conditions in a home-based integrated care program versus conventional hospital-based care.

Design Quasi-experimental longitudinal study.

Setting An acute care hospital, an intermediate care hospital, and the community of an urban area in the North of Barcelona, in Southern Europe.

Participants In a 2-year period, we recruited 367 older patients attended at an orthopedic/traumatology unit in an acute hospital for fractures and/or arthroplasty.

Intervention Patients were referred to a hospital-at-home integrated care unit or to standard hospital-based postacute orthogeriatric unit, based on their social support and availability of the resource.

Measurements We compared home-based care versus hospital-based care for Relative Functional Gain (gain/loss of function measured by the Barthel Index), mean direct costs, and potential savings in terms of reduction of stay in the acute care hospital.

Results No differences were found in Relative Functional Gain, median (Q25-Q75) = 0.92 (0.64-1.09) in the home-based group versus 0.93 (0.59-1) in the hospital-based group, P =.333. Total health service direct cost [mean (standard deviation)] was significantly lower for patients receiving home-based care: €7120 (3381) versus €12,149 (6322), P < .001. Length of acute hospital stay was significantly shorter in patients discharged to home-based care [10.1 (7)] than in patients discharged to the postacute orthogeriatric hospital-based unit [15.3 (12) days, P < .001].

Conclusion The hospital-at-home integrated care program was suitable for managing older patients with orthopedic conditions who have good social support for home care. It provided clinical care comparable to the hospital-based model, and it seems to enable earlier acute hospital discharge and lower direct costs.