"Can Low-Intensity Care Solve High Health Costs?" - Dhruv Khullar and Austin Frakt
How much you spend on medical care depends on what you get, but also where you get it. A study of Medicare hospitalizations found that almost all patients are more likely to survive at teaching hospitals, which tend to be more expensive. Amid our enthusiasm for more efficient care settings, we should be clear-eyed about the limitations: Sometimes less is more, but sometimes more is more. Other academic centers are sending patients not to another hospital, but directly home. In 2014, the Mount Sinai Health System began a hospital-at-home program for patients sick enough to need a hospital but stable enough to be cared for at home. Patients get visits from doctors, nurses, physical therapists and social workers, and they can have intravenous antibiotics, lab draws and breathing treatments in the comfort of their home. Research suggests that care for patients treated at home costs less and results in fewer complications, higher satisfaction and lower mortality.
- Mount Sinai Health System
