Outcomes of patients with cancer cared for in a multisite home hospital program.
Authors: Roberts Thomas J. , Ssemaganda Henry , Shaikh Saheba , Dorner Stephen , Boxer Robert B. , Temel Jennifer S. , Greer Joseph , Levine David M. 
Published: September 2024

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Background:
Home hospital provides hospital-level care for acutely ill patients in their homes as a substitute for care in brick-and-mortar hospitals. Since the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ acute hospital care at home waiver in November 2020, 330 hospitals have received approval to launch home hospital programs. Prior research has shown that patients cared for in home hospital have improved physical activity, and lower mortality and readmission rates. However, many of these programs exclude patients with cancer, and data describing outcomes of patients with cancer cared for in home hospital programs are limited.
Methods:
We identified patients admitted to a multisite home hospital program affiliated with an urban health system between February 1, 2020 and May 1, 2024 who had a diagnosis of cancer (ICD-10: C00-C96) or myelodysplastic syndrome (ICD-10: D46) managed by an oncologist within the health system. For each admission we conducted chart reviews to determine whether the malignancy was active at the time of admission, defined by ongoing antineoplastic treatment or an admission directly related to the malignancy. We also captured the patient’s cancer diagnosis, the admission diagnosis, total length of stay, and length of time in home hospital. We identified readmissions within 30 days of discharge and escalations of care, defined as a return to a brick-and-mortar hospital for additional care spanning at least one midnight, and calculated rates of these outcomes.
Results:
There were 141 home hospital admissions among 128 patients with cancer diagnoses (mean age: 77, 36% female). The most common oncologic diagnoses were lymphoma (16%, N = 22), chronic leukemias and MDS (14%, N = 20), and lung cancer (13%, N = 18). Seventy-one patients (50%) had active cancer at the time of admission. The leading admission diagnoses were pneumonia (N = 28, 16%), heart failure exacerbations (N = 19, 13%), complicated urinary tract infections (N = 12, 9%) and soft tissue infections (N = 10, 7%). The mean total length of stay was 7.9 days (SD 5.6) and patients were admitted to home hospital for a mean of 4.9 days (SD: 3.5). Escalation rates and 30-day readmission rates were 7% (N = 10) and 13% (N = 19), respectively, among all patients, and 5% (N = 4) and 14% (N = 10) among patients with active malignancies.
Conclusions:
These data describe a cohort of patients with cancer cared for in a multisite home hospital program. They show low rates of transfer back to brick-and-mortar hospitals and low 30-day readmission rates, and they demonstrate that patients with cancer can be safely cared for in a home hospital. As home hospital programs build new capabilities, a larger proportion of oncology patients will be eligible for home hospital. More work is needed to estimate risk-adjusted outcomes among these populations and to understand the patient and caregiver experience with oncology home hospital.