As lawmakers in Washington D.C. battled over the future of at-home medical care, a community partnership right here in Tulsa took matters into their own hands.
Saint Francis Health System and CommunityCare launched a hospital-at-home program in late January. It allows patients with certain critical conditions to receive in-patient care in their own homes. Older folks, particularly those who are chronically ill and need intense, long-term therapy, are the target audience.
These programs became popular during the pandemic as a waiver let people on Medicare and Medicaid get this service.
Now, leaders of the Tulsa program say the city could be an example for others.
“I’m just grateful for (CommunityCare’s) willingness to unite with us and sort of try this, and prove that it can work here in Tulsa,” said Meg Zacks, senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Saint Francis Hospital.
To receive at-home care, patients have to live in a 20-mile radius of the nearest Saint Francis Hospital and be in-network. Right now, only patients already admitted to the hospital are eligible.
Zacks said they’re staffed for five or six patients at a time and will be operated through DispatchHealth.
At-home care could also save patients money in the long run. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported lower readmission rates a few years ago, along with higher customer satisfaction.
Saint Francis had zero re-admissions after launching their ER alternative and skilled alternative programs. The latter offers rehab at home instead of going to a skilled nursing facility. The ER alternative brings help for non life-threatening conditions to the home.
“Having this kind of ecosystem of all of these services working together and in tandem, you can imagine, results in a more efficient but yet still decentralized system of care,” Zacks said. “And we hope to bring total cost of care down over time.”
Patients love this type of care, too, she added. Being in their own environment allowed for more personal connections with some patients telling caregivers they loved them.
Zacks hopes the program will expand in the future. In the next six months, patients could be directly referred, and she’d also like to extend the program’s radius. Friends at rural hospitals also told her they’d like these options in their market. While that might be challenging, she says it’s another opportunity for Oklahoma to be a leader.
“I absolutely think this will all be part of our future ecosystem and health care in general — more self enabled, what I like to call DIY, care,” she said.
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