Cone Health Completes First Year of Hospital at Home Program with Stellar Results  

When it comes to getting better, sometimes there really is no place like home.

GREENSBORO — Hospital at Home lets some people receive hospital-level care without the hospital bed. And it can be as good and maybe even better than care received in the hospital. Cone Health’s has completed the first year of its Hospital at Home program with zero infections and high levels of patient satisfaction.

How it works: 
Patients are still considered hospital patients and are watched closely every day by providers, nurses and other care team members. Care is delivered through a mix of home visits, virtual check-ins and devices that track things like heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels.

The program is for people who still need hospital care but are doing well enough to safely recover at home.

Why it matters: 
Patients are happier being cared for at home than in the hospital. Those in the Cone Health program report high satisfaction and strong communication with their care teams. 

And they are doing well from a medical standpoint too. In its first year, the program saw:

• Zero deaths among patients enrolled
• Zero infections associated with care
• Patients receiving care at home have an overall lower length of stay than those within the hospital receiving the same level of care
• Were less likely than those treated in a hospital to need to return to the hospital within 30 days

What they’re saying: 
“I believe great care doesn’t always require complex treatments — sometimes it begins with rest, nutrition and mobility,” says Alex Carrico, MSN, RN, who is the director of the Cone Health Hospital at Home program. “Our Hospital at Home program makes that possible by caring for patients where they’re most comfortable — their own homes.”

What’s next: 
The Cone Health program is limited to six patients at a time, and most health insurance plans don’t cover it. However, the government recently approved hospital at home programs for five more years. Cone Health expects to expand its program as more insurers become more comfortable covering the service.