Hospital-level care can be delivered safely and meticulously in the comfort of a patient’s home, and many events requiring hospital-level care can be managed as effectively in the home setting as in a hospital when enabled by cutting-edge remote monitoring technology, says Discovery Health CEO Dr Ryan Noach.

The company has partnered with US biotechnology company Biofourmis to provide the Hospital at Home solution to all Discovery Health Medical Scheme members since January 2022.

The company held a live demonstration of the system for local media and medical practitioners in July.

“At-home hospital care results in a quicker return to a functional level for the patient, and lower overall costs. Our analyses further show that costs are reduced by about 20% per admission,” Noach says.

The Hospital at Home solution includes sophisticated monitoring of various clinical readings and a patient-facing companion application (app), providing immediate virtual access for doctors and other caregivers to personalised medical information, based on the patient’s condition.

Multidisciplinary healthcare teams visit the home to set up the patient-monitoring systems, including remote monitoring devices, such as the cutting-edge Biofourmis device, which is worn on the arm. These devices, monitored by specialised clinical teams, include advanced artificial intelligence (AI) that allows for early detection of potential complications, Noach adds.

“The system is sophisticated and hospital-level care can be delivered safely and meticulously in the comfort of a patient’s home,” explains Discovery Health Professional Risk and Hospital at Home head Dr Botho Mhozya.

A secure dashboard enables the patient’s treating healthcare provider and a team of clinicians in the clinical command centre to monitor a patient’s health status. When patient deterioration is detected, actionable notifications enable caregivers to deliver real-time clinical interventions.

The dashboard integrates with clinical workflows and HealthID to streamline care coordination, delivering exceptional care, regardless of patient location.

The programme provides an attractive alternative setting of care, namely the patient’s own home, for a range of medical and post-surgical conditions that would otherwise require hospital admission. Importantly, the evidence shows that outcomes are as good, if not better, than in the case of in-hospital care, says Noach.

“Hospital at Home demonstrates the power of merging traditional healthcare delivery with cutting edge medical technology and innovation, resulting in the patient receiving the best possible care in the comfort and dignity of their own home,” he says.

Brigham Health and Harvard Medical School general internist and clinician-investigator Dr David Levine shared findings from research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he works as a senior researcher and internal physician, into how hospital-level care in a patient’s home lowers cost and uplifts care, resulting in lower readmission rates, as well as improving the patient experience.

Various admission-related metrics have been shown to improve, promoting healing and everything from better sleep to more physical activity, he notes.

Several clinical trials and research have conclusively demonstrated that hospital-at-home care options provide high-quality, cost-effective care. The hospital-at-home model is a transformative innovation with the potential to greatly increase access to care while improving patient experience and outcomes, in a lower-cost setting.

“At-home hospital care is a powerful lever for broadening access to affordable, high-quality hospital-level care and is in fact the most evidenced-based hospital service that exists,” Levine highlights.

“The convenience and personalisation of care at home means that, globally, hospital-at-home models have been well-received by patients.

“Similarly, Discovery’s Hospital at Home model is proving compelling to doctors and patients alike, with the assurance of the highest possible safety and quality standards, including continuous, digital clinical monitoring and a dedicated care team available 24 hours [a day],” Noach adds.

The Biofourmis platform and linked Biovitals Analytics Engine have US regulatory organisation Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance. Their AI-powered analytics engine has been used to remotely monitor more than 100 000 hospital-at-home patients globally.

The Biofourmis platform was developed with Harvard Medical School’s teaching hospital, Brigham and Women’s, alongside their remote patient-monitoring devices. They use AI and advanced FDA-approved analytics to establish patient’s baselines and, through early warning systems, detect early clinical deterioration enabling rapid escalation of care if required, says Biofourmis physician and medical director Dr Sandeep Pulim.

Discovery’s Hospital at Home programme covers a range of clinically appropriate, low-acuity medical and postsurgical conditions that would otherwise require an admission to hospital for a general ward level of care.

The service is nationally available with capacity extended to enable admission of up to 750 patients at any given time, the company says.