it's not a new concept but it's just now being launched in New Jersey hospitals at home safe high quality Hospital level care to patients in the comfort of familiar surroundings their homes advocates for older adults have long pushed the idea and as Joanna Gagis reports it could be a game changer for the future of geriatric care I like to be home you know you know where everything is sitting here in her comfortable chair Betty Coyle is actually a patient at Virtua hospital but her care is provided right here in her house through a new program launched last year called hospital at home it was the perfect answer when we really needed an answer Karen Smith is Betty Coyle's daughter when her mom developed a urinary tract infection along with covid earlier this year she had to be admitted to the hospital but Coyle's dementia made just one night's stay extremely stressful and even dangerous she became more disoriented she was requiring oxygen and she was trying to get out of bed she pulled out two IVs it was that was just one night so the next day the doctor offered this and we jumped on it the Care at home meant coil could be monitored 24 7 using a band on her arm that sends her vitals right to the healthcare team at Virtua along with twice daily visits from a nurse and regular Telehealth appointments with her doctor Diego Ortega they are much more comfortable in their home setting and we've seen just incredible responses in terms of how quickly they're recovering compared to some of the more traditional brick and mortar building treatments they are able to sleep much much better at home get that rest they need to improve quickly Mobility is tremendous compared to you know being in in a brick and mortar hospital where you're kind of afraid to get out of bed because an alarm might go off and all you really want to do is just get to the restroom and they can be close to family for support Dr Raul Barrio helped to launch the Home Care program that started when the U.S Department of Health allowed hospitals to offer at-home care to certain Medicare patients as a result of the the coveted pandemic an effort to keep more vulnerable patients out of the hospital they've now learned that approach is improving outcomes in a multitude of ways we're able to eliminate Hospital acquired infections with older patients we're able to see that there's a decrease in hospital acquired delirium patients are in their own environment they don't they don't get confused patients with dementia usually that happens when they're in when they're in the hospital we've been able to eliminate that Smith believes being home and around loved ones gave her mom a sense of control over her own healing when she had to be readmitted recently due to a leg wound but you could just see every day she was moving better she was sleeping in her own bed she knew everyone everyone was coming in and out and visiting her she just didn't feel sick she felt like she had control over it to a degree but as promising as the results have been right now insurance coverage for this program is only available to Medicare patients but there's a bill moving through the state legislature that that could expand it the bill basically expands the health insurance coverage for Hospital Home Care it also provides the New Jersey Department of Health the opportunity to create regulations within Hospital home care so I think that's uh that's a benefit for the residents of New Jersey the bill has moved out of the health committees in both the Senate and assembly it has the backing of a few major Health Care Systems including Virtua that say this model is the future of Health Care in the state for NJ Spotlight news I'm Joanna Gagis [Music]