Intermountain Health has effectively treated 1,000 patients in the comfort of their home rather than keeping them admitted to the hospital, which can save in medical costs.

The Hospital-Level Care at Home program, which began in 2020, is available to patients at 16 Intermountain hospitals from Logan to St. George with acute or chronic conditions who qualify for the service. The service is provided through Castell, the population health entity of Intermountain Health, according to a news release.

“Our goal is to be able to offer patients the right level of care in the right place at a lower cost,” said Dr. Nathan Starr, medical director of home services for Castell and Intermountain Health’s tele-hospitalist program. “Our comprehensive in-home services provide the technology to monitor vital signs remotely and offer daily in-home nurse visits, daily telehealth rounding by a medical provider and access to 24-hour on-call nurses and physicians.”

Patients enrolled in the program usually come through the emergency department or have been admitted to the hospital and qualify to be released early but are still in need of care.

“The program is so diverse,” said Raeme Sendzik, the program’s operation manager. “It supports an individual’s social determinants of health and covers diverse ethnic backgrounds, diversity of age, and a variety of financial backgrounds including people who are unhoused.”

Since the program began, it has saved Intermountain over 3,000 bed days from participating hospitals and can cost patients up to 30% less than having to stay in the hospital.

“I really love that this program tells patients, ‘We’re looking at you as a whole,’ because research has shown time and time again, we heal better in our homes,” said Sendzik. “We heal better around things that mean something to us, like our family, our pets and in our environment. Patients can be around their primary support system like partners and family, get the care they need and continue to work.”

Sendzik said as humans, sometimes we worry about whether things are being taken care of at home, like feeding the pets or getting kids to school. Being at home can give the patient the opportunity to get those things done while still getting the medical care they need.

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