In a 2005 national demonstration and evaluation study of the Hospital at Home in three settings, the mean cost was lower for a hospital-at-home episode, $5,081, than for an acute hospital care stay, $7,4801. 

In addition, the study found no differences in the use of health services (ED visits, inpatient hospital readmissions, mean number of admissions to SNFs, and mean number of home health visits) in the observation and intervention (Hospital at Home) groups eight weeks after admission2. 

In the 2005 national demonstration and evaluation study of the Hospital at Home in three settings, illness-specific standards of care (e.g. administering antibiotics within 8 hours of admission for pneumonia and cellulitis patients; use of corticosteroids for COPD patients, use or considered use of beta blockers for CHF patients) were achieved in similar proportions for both study groups at the aggregate and site levels3.

In addition, there was a statistically significant lower rate of incident delirium in the Hospital at Home Group (9%) compared to the observation group (24%).

Hospital at Home researchers are finishing up a paper on health care provider satisfaction.  The data shows that providers were very happy with the model and despite model complexities, it worked well from their standpoint. 

A 2006 study of patient satisfaction with Hospital at Home care conducted at three Medicare managed care health systems and a VA medical center found that a higher percentage of patients were satisfied with the Hospital at Home treatment compared to the acute care hospital.  Specifically, Hospital at Home patients were more likely than acute hospital patients to be satisfied with their physician, comfort and convenience of care, admission processes, and the overall care experience. In addition, family members of patients treated in Hospital at Home were more likely to be satisfied with multiple aspects of care4.

A just-published study of stress experienced by family members of patients cared for in a Hospital at Home found that Hospital at Home care was associated with lower levels of family member stress than traditional acute hospital care5.