A novel virtual hospital at home model during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

• Published in: Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology Vol. 42; no. 9; pp. 1140 - 1142
• Main Authors: Ryan, Patrick P, Hawkins, Kellie L, Altman, Stacey, Granatowski, Lisa, Shy, Bradley D, Long, Jeremy, Hanratty, Rebecca
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Cambridge University Press 01.09.2021
• Subjects: Cardiovascular disease; Coronary vessels; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Diabetes; Emergency medical care; Health care policy; Health disparities; Hispanic Americans; Hospitals; Hypertension; Insurance coverage; Letter to the Editor; Medicaid; Minority & ethnic groups; Nursing; Pandemics; Patients; Primary care; Telemedicine; Uninsured people; Vein & artery diseases
• ISSN: 0899-823X; 1559-6834
• DOI: 10.1017/ice.2020.435

Patient Demographics and Outcomes Characteristic Overall No. (%) Age, mean y (SD) 49.2 (14.7) ≥65 34 (14.6) Male 108 (46.4) Does not have PCP 53 (22.8) COVID-19 Status Confirmed 129 (55.4) Negative 72 (30.9) Test Unavailable 32 (13.7) Race/Ethnicity White 55 (23.6) Black 22 (9.4) Hispanic 145 (62.2) Other 11 (4.7) Comorbid conditions Diabetes mellitis 60 (25.8) Coronary artery disease 9 (3.9) Chronic heart failure 7 (3) End-stage renal disease 2 (0.9) Hyoertrension 142 (60.9) Cirrhosis 4 (1.7) Asthma/COPD 54 (23.2) BMI >30 96 (41.2) Malignancy 6 (2.6) Immunosuppressed 23 (9.9) Referral source Emergency department 80 (34.3) Urgent care 57 (24.5) Ambulatory testing 54 (23.2) Hospitalist service 36 (15.5) Other 6 (2.6) Preferred patient language English 131 (56.2) Spanish 94 (40.3) Non-English/Non-Spanish 8 (3.4) VHH outcomes Mean Duration of VHH Monitoring, d (SD) 4.1 (3.1) Discharged from VHH 190 (81.6) ED visit 19 (8.2) Hospital admission 9 (3.9) ICU admission 2 (0.9) Unable to contact 13 (5.6) Insurance coverage Commercial 37 (15.9) Medicaid 89 (38.2) Medicare 34 (14.6) Uninsured 66 (28.3) Unknown/Other 7 (3) Note. [...]the VHH provides hospitalists an outlet to safely discharge COVID-19 patients earlier, knowing that patients will have close outpatient oversight and guidance in their care. [...]the VHH provides an opportunity to connect patients to longitudinal primary care.