CMS launches Acute Hospital Care at Home program

CMS announced on November 25 that it is building on the flexibilities granted by the Hospitals Without Walls program to launch the Acute Hospital Care at Home program. Under this program, eligible hospitals will be allowed to treat certain inpatients in the patient’s home.

To participate in the program, hospitals must apply for a waiver through an online portal. Participating hospitals are required to regularly report quality and safety data. Waivers granted under this program are individual waivers and are not blanket waivers. If a hospital has provided acute hospital services in patients’ homes to at least 25 patients, the application process will be expedited. If a hospital has provided acute hospital services in patients’ homes to fewer than 25 patients, the hospital will complete a more detailed waiver request and will be required to report monitoring data more frequently.

Before providing acute hospital care in a patient’s home, the hospital is required to screen for medical and nonmedical factors such as working utilities, assessment of physical barriers, and domestic violence concerns. Patients can only be admitted from emergency departments and inpatient hospital beds. A physician must conduct an in-person evaluation before starting care at home. A registered nurse must evaluate each patient in the program once daily either in-person or remotely. In-person visits by a registered nurse or a mobile integrated health paramedic must be conducted twice daily.

Eligible patients must be given the option to receive traditional hospital care or participate in the program. No patient can be required to receive hospital care at home.

For more information, see CMS’ FAQ document and comments from health systems that are already participating in the program.