Activities

Building the Hospital at Home Community

With sites around the country, the Hospital at Home Users Group™ conducts most of its work virtually. Following a kick-off meeting in Washington, DC in May 2019, the Users Group has greatly expanded its activities and resources, keeping up with the growing momentum of the home-based acute care movement.  

The Users Group cultivates a vibrant online community for Hospital at Home news, networking, and discussion on Basecamp. Additionally, the organization provides a robust Technical Assistance Center with original content and contributions from the community in critical focus areas. Virtual Office Hours, small-group consulting calls facilitated by a Hospital at Home expert, are held monthly. 

Additionally, the group maintains work groups organized around program standards, quality indicators, and regulatory and reimbursement issues. Each of these is creating new frameworks to help guide the development of new Hospital at Home programs and to create a policy environment that is supportive of this model of home-based acute care.

Throughout the year, the Users Group–in partnership with the American Academy of Home Care Medicine and with funding from The John A. Hartford Foundation—offers webinars that provide practical information and explore topics of interest for the field.  

The Hospital at Home Users Group proudly hosts a Virtual Annual Meeting, now in partnership with the American Academy of Home Care Medicine. This event is the largest gathering of the Hospital at Home community in North America, and an opportunity to share the latest in acute care at home practice, policy, and research.   

Research projects underway

The Users Group also conducts research about the larger Hospital at Home community and movement. Currently, there is one project underway. 

Caregiver Study: Researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in partnership with the Users Group, are conducting a study to explore caregiver-related issues in Hospital at Home. They are seeking individuals in clinical HaH Program Leadership to participate in an interview to discuss their perspectives on caregiving in HaH–specifically, challenges and strategies related to caregiver engagement, technical assistance needs of caregivers, and opportunities to improve caregiver support–as well as equity issues in HaH. Additionally, participants will be asked to assist in disseminating study recruitment flyers  to caregivers in their programs. If you have questions or would like to participate, please contact Gabrielle Schiller at gabrielle.schiller@mssm.edu.