Prince Edward Family Health recently launched Hospital at Home, a new program designed to allow patients access to hospital services in their homes, according to an article in the Intelligencer website.
“We all hear over and over again there's a great push in Ontario and elsewhere to get a massive change in healthcare underway. A big focus of that is to move healthcare out of the hospital and more into people's own homes,” Dr. Elizabeth Christie said in the article.
The program offers support to patient and caregivers in their home, retirement home or long-term care facility; facilitates early discharge from the hospital; and provides family doctor and nurse practitioner involvement in the home setting daily, according to the article.
Like in the hospital, the patient's primary care provider or a nurse practitioner performs daily rounds. Nursing and personal support workers are available for multiple visits daily.
All team members involved in a patient's care meet daily via a teleconference to discuss the patient's condition, goals for treatment and to determine appropriate changes to the plan of care.
Read the article.