Effectiveness of a Multifaceted Implementation Strategy to Increase Equitable Hospital at Home Utilization: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis

Background

The number of Hospital-at-Home (HaH) programs rapidly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and after issuance of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCaH) waiver. However, there remains little evidence on effective strategies to equitably expand HaH utilization.

Objective

Evaluate the effects of a multifaceted implementation strategy on HaH utilization over time.

Design

Before and after implementation evaluation using electronic health record (EHR) data and interrupted time series analysis, complemented by qualitative interviews with key stakeholders.

Participants

Between December 2021 and December 2022, we identified adults hospitalized at six hospitals in North Carolina approved by CMS to participate in the AHCaH waiver program. Eligible adults met criteria for HaH transfer (HaH-eligible clinical condition, qualifying home environment). We conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 HaH patients and 10 referring clinicians.

Interventions

Two strategies were studied. The discrete implementation strategy (weeks 1–12) included clinician-directed educational outreach. The multifaceted implementation strategy (weeks 13–54) included ongoing clinician-directed educational outreach, local HaH assistance via nurse navigators, involvement of clinical service line executives, and individualized audit and feedback.

Measures

We assessed weekly averaged HaH capacity utilization, weekly counts of unique referring providers, and patient characteristics. We analyzed themes from qualitative data to determine barriers and facilitators to HaH use.

Results

Our evaluation showed week-to-week increases in HaH capacity utilization during the multifaceted implementation strategy period, compared to discrete-period trends (slope-change odds ratio—1.02, 1.01–1.04). Counts of referring providers also increased week to week, compared to discrete-period trends (slope-change means ratio—1.05, 1.03–1.07). The increase in HaH utilization was largest among rural residents (11 to 34%). Barriers included HaH-related information gaps and referral challenges; facilitators included patient-centeredness of HaH care.

Conclusions

A multifaceted implementation strategy was associated with increased HaH capacity utilization, provider adoption, and patient diversity. Health systems may consider similar, contextually relevant multicomponent approaches to equitably expand HaH.