SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Evaluation of Va San Diego's Hospital in Home Program

Pdf Summary

VA San Diego’s 2025 evaluation of its VA Hospital in Home (HiH) program found that inpatient-level care at home for acutely ill Veterans was safe, cost-effective, and well received.<br /><br />The study reviewed outcomes using VA data sources, including readmission rates, inpatient bed-days before and after HiH, program costs compared with traditional inpatient care, patient satisfaction surveys, and medication errors identified and corrected.<br /><br />Key findings:<br />- 92 patients participated, with an average age of 75 and a very high CAN score of 98, indicating a medically complex population.<br />- 30-day heart failure readmission was 15% for HiH discharge, compared with 19% for standard inpatient discharge.<br />- Inpatient bed use dropped by 37% in the 6 months after HiH.<br />- The program used far fewer bed-days than traditional inpatient care: 563 bed-days and 25,278 total encounters for HiH versus 5,051 bed-days and 40,408 total encounters for VA San Diego overall.<br />- Among surveyed Veterans, 100% said they would recommend the program and were satisfied with their care (n=45).<br />- Medication review was highly valuable: 81% of patients had at least one medication error identified on admission (18/22), most commonly medication omissions (72%) and incorrect doses (50%).<br /><br />Overall, the results suggest that VA San Diego’s Hospital in Home model reduces hospital utilization, lowers costs, improves medication safety, and achieves very high patient satisfaction while maintaining safe inpatient-level care at home.

Asset Subtitle

Nikolas E. Marino

Meta Tag

Author List Derek Juang, Marilyn Papet, Nikolas E. Marino, Patricia Hlavin, Sean Kenmore, Sohan Japa

Category Research

Concept VA Hospital in Home

Concept Medication Reconciliation

Concept Inpatient-Level Acute Care

Concept Readmission Rate

Concept Patient Satisfaction

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization VA San Diego

Presenting Author Nikolas E. Marino

Track Quality Improvement

Keywords

VA San Diego

Hospital in Home

HiH program

Veterans healthcare

inpatient care at home

readmission rates

cost-effective care

patient satisfaction

medication safety

hospital utilization

VA Hospital in Home

Medication Reconciliation

Inpatient-Level Acute Care

Readmission Rate

Patient Satisfaction