Yale New Haven Health debuts home-based care program

Yale New Haven Health (YNHHS) has inaugurated a program designed to provide hospital-level care to patients in their homes.

The Home Hospital program will serve Medicare patients living with 25 miles of Bridgeport and Yale New Haven hospitals and meeting qualifying clinical and social stability criteria. Each patient will receive a physician video visit once a day through a Wi-Fi-enabled tablet, in-person visits from a nurse twice a day, plus additional nurse home visits as needed. The program will cover a range of hospital services relating to heart failure, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cellulitis, and other conditions.

The program is coordinated with a private company, Medically Home, and YNHHS plans to expand it to its other hospitals in the near future.

“Many patients prefer to be cared for in their homes,” said Dr. Olukemi Akande, physician executive director for post-acute care and co-lead Home Hospital program physician. “With the growth of telehealth and other mobile health technologies, we can provide a high level of care and 24/7 accessibility to these patients.”