In New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria, Hospital in the Home (HITH) programs are taking off and look likely to keep growing, with aged care at the front of the queue.
The South Australian Government is starting a pilot $6 million Complex and RestorativE (CARE) service, specifically designed to improve care for seniors by providing alternative treatment pathways to Emergency Departments where emergency care is not required.
“Research shows that Hospital EDs are often not the best place for older or frail people to receive non-emergency care. If it’s not an emergency, it is often better for people to receive care at home or close to home,” said Health and Wellbeing Minister Stephen Wade.
“The CARE team can deliver same day hospital level care to appropriate older people, either in their homes or at the CARE centre based right here at the Repat Health Precinct.”
Ahead of expected surges in hospitalisations in October and November as States reopen from lockdowns, NSW has increased its HITH program, with more than 3,400 COVID-19 patients being managed remotely in their homes, In Victoria, a leader in HITH care, is also gearing up its system, with 1,600 sub-acute COVID-19-infected patients now admitted to the program.
Professor Peter Hunter, who runs the Alfred Health program Better at Home in Melbourne, said home-based hospital care was particularly useful in situations where the programs were well established and settled, as in the case of cellulitis and diabetes. He added at-home care leads to significantly better outcomes for seniors.
Calvary Health Care CEO Martin Bowles, the former Federal Health Secretary, told the Financial Review that HITH, particularly for patients with chronic diseases, “is the future”.
Calvary Health Care has treated more than 900 patients in the South Australian Government’s My Home Hospital program funded by Wellbeing SA. The program uses remote monitoring technology to enable medical, nursing and allied health team to stay in touch with patients, and to track things like their pulse, temperature and blood pressure.
