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Vets Seeing More Flexibility and Better Care with Hospital in Home Initiative

female nurse looking at male patient during in-home visit
The Hospital in Home initiative at San Diego is the only VA program of its type in Southern California. This initiative is also being offered in 13 other VAs across the country.

Fannie Hatcher loved the convenience of the VA San Diego Healthcare System’s Hospital in Home Initiative. Rather than taking her Veteran husband to appointments at the San Diego VA Medical Center in La Jolla, she saves time and effort by having the health care team visit their home.

“With my husband’s condition, being in an unfamiliar surrounding made his situation worse,” Fannie said. “By being at home with his family while getting care, rather than staying by himself in a hospital, helped improve his outcome.”

With Hospital in Home, the aim is for a provider and nurse to give acute care in a familiar surrounding with patients who otherwise would need to be admitted to the hospital.

The four major categories of Vets that qualify for the Hospital in Home initiative include those who seek emergency care, those inpatients seeking early discharge and have a clear diagnosis, Vets already receiving home care, and Vets currently hospitalized outside the VA system.

The benefits for patients include fewer issues with delirium, better recovery, more flexibility, less risk of exposure to nosocomial infection and better flexibility in terms of visitation and pet care. In addition, the Hospital in Home initiative allows providers to move towards the goals of reduced re-admissions, reduction in cost of care by between 19 and 38 percent in several studies, increased patient satisfaction and less inpatient bed utilization.

According to Dr. Sohan Japa, the program’s Medical Director, the initiative in San Diego has been around since March 2021 and has yet to make significant reductions in bed utilization. But other VA health care systems where it’s been in place for a while are seeing noticeable improvements.

Criteria for Hospital in Home includes:

  • Must live within a 30 to 40-mile range of the San Diego VA Medical Center campus and must have a critical diagnosis of heart failure, COPD, cellulitis, urinary tract infection, pneumonia, or dehydration, as these can be treated at home. 
  • In addition, patients must be amenable to care, have a telephone and can provide a home that is safe for staff and patients must give consent and be able to follow directions. 

Offered in 13 VAs across the country, the Hospital in Home initiative at San Diego is the only VA program of its type in Southern California and only one of three locations west of San Antonio, Texas.

For more information on Hospital in Home, please contact Dr. Sohan Japa at (858) 552-8585 x6421.