PC3 – Hospital @ home

Link to EAHP Statements
Section 1 – Introductory Statements and Governance: Statements – 1.1
Section 2 – Selection, Procurement and Distribution: Statements – 2.2, 2.6
Section 3 – Production and Compounding: Statements – 3.2, 3.3, 3.5, 3.6
Section 4 – Clinical Pharmacy: Statements – 4.1, 4.5, 4.6
Section 5 – Patient Safety and Quality Assurance: Statements – 5.9

Abstract
The Hospital-at-Home (H@H) model is a healthcare delivery model that provides acute hospital-level care to patients in their homes or nursing homes, instead of in a traditional hospital setting. The aging population is living longer with chronic diseases, leading to an increased demand for medical care. Multimorbidity is associated with a higher number of hospitalizations, nosocomial complications, institutionalizations, polypharmacy, and adverse drug effects, resulting in a significant increase in healthcare costs. Hospitals are not always the right environment for many patients who require hospital admission for certain diseases, such as community-acquired pneumonia, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cellulitis. If they meet some specific medical eligibility criteria can receive hospital-level care – including diagnostic tests and treatment therapies with a supportive interdisciplinary team consisting of physicians, pharmacists, nurses, nutritionists, and other healthcare professionals. The H@H model has been tested in various medical centres worldwide and is highly rated by patients as it reduces costs and complications.
Hospital-at-Home is becoming more accessible to people due to the advent of new technologies. For instance, remote patient-monitoring devices enable healthcare providers to remotely monitor patient progress and receive alerts if there is an issue. The pandemic has created a catalyst to truly reimaging treatments away from the hospital in a disruptive approach that could change the classical hospital organization into a really patient centred service provider, placing several challenges on hospital pharmacists, particularly regarding the stability of antibiotics in elastomeric pumps and the use of electronic devices, always with the perspective of reducing the number of necessary visits. Even virtual wards must rely on real pharmacists to ensure quality of care.

Learning objectives
After the session, the participant should be able to:

• Understand Hospital at Home model.
• Recognize new trends in hospital organization.
• Optimizing dosage regimens while maintaining therapeutic levels.

Educational need addressed
New challenges are being posed to hospital pharmacists regarding the use of new technologies to ensure safety and quality of pharmaceutical care.
The need to ensure compliance with quality assurance criteria should be assumed as the key factor for the success of different hospitalization treatments.

Keywords
Hospital at home, stability, safety, interdisciplinary teams.