[Home hospitalization directly from emergency department: an efficient alternative to standard inpatient hospitalization]

Abstract

Background and objective: To compare technical quality, patient health outcomes, and satisfaction degree of patients admitted to hospital at home (HAH) from the emergency department (ED) with those with standard hospitalization (SH).

Patients and methods: Comparative prospective study. Medical records of patients admitted to the HAH were reviewed and then they were also called and surveyed. The following variables were recorded: demographic and clinical aspects, patient health status at the time of phone survey, technical and perceived quality.

Results: Patients included: 111 (65 from the ED and 46 from the SH). Phone survey was performed to 76 patients and 57 carers. Length of stay was significantly shorter in patients from the ED compared with those from SH (1.02 ± 0.44 vs 2.23 ± 0.94 days, P<.0005). No other differences were observed in patients' demographics, clinical aspects and health status, in technical quality, and in perceived quality between both groups.

Conclusion: When HAH is an option, these results seem to indicate that patient hospital stay can be shortened if HAH admittance is obvious, after a period of patient treatment and stabilization, from the ED instead from HAH.