Hospital-Level Care at Home for Acutely Ill Adults
Infection, Heart Failure, COPD
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Infection
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Resides within either a 5-mile or 20 minute driving radius of emergency department
- Has capacity to consent to study OR can assent to study and has proxy who can consent
- >= 18 years-old
- Can identify a potential caregiver who agrees to stay with patient for first 24 hours of admission. Caregiver must be competent to call care team if a problem is evident to her/him. After 24 hours, this caregiver should be available for as-needed spot checks on the patient. This criterion may be waived for highly competent patients at the patient and clinician's discretion.
- Primary or possible diagnosis of cellulitis, heart failure, complicated urinary tract infection, pneumonia, COPD/asthma, other infection, chronic kidney disease, malignant pain, diabetes and its complications, gout flare, hypertensive urgency, previously diagnosed atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response, anticoagulation needs, or a patient who desires only medical management that requires inpatient admission, as determined by the emergency room team.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Undomiciled
- No working heat (October-April), no working air conditioning if forecast > 80°F (June-September), or no running water
- On methadone requiring daily pickup of medication
- In police custody
- Resides in facility that provides on-site medical care (e.g., skilled nursing facility)
- Domestic violence screen positive
- Acute delirium, as determined by the Confusion Assessment Method
- Cannot establish peripheral access in emergency department (or access requires ultrasound guidance)
- Secondary condition: end-stage renal disease, acute myocardial infarction, acute cerebral vascular accident, acute hemorrhage
- Primary diagnosis requires multiple or routine administrations of intravenous narcotics for pain control
- Cannot independently ambulate to bedside commode
- As deemed by on-call medical doctor, patient likely to require any of the following procedures: computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, endoscopic procedure, blood transfusion, cardiac stress test, or surgery
- High risk for clinical deterioration
- Home hospital census is full (maximum 5 patients at any time)
Sites / Locations
- Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Active Comparator
Experimental
Inpatient hospitalization
Home hospitalization
Control / usual care arm. Patients are admitted per usual to an inpatient service. Patients' medical records will be closely monitored. Patients will wear a vital sign and activity monitor whose data is used only retrospectively. On discharge and 30 days after discharge, they will be interviewed regarding their hospitalization and health.
Intervention arm. Patients will return home after triage, diagnosis, and the beginning of treatment in the emergency department with a set of specialized patient-tailored services (listed above). On discharge and 30 days after discharge, they will be interviewed regarding their hospitalization and health.