Heart Failure Hospital-at-home Program Matches Traditional Hospital Care on readmissions 

At-home heart failure care can be a viable alternative for patients getting heart failure care, in terms of safety and quality.

Patients with heart failure who received advanced medical care at home had similar post-discharge outcomes to the care found within brick-and-mortar hospitals, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open. Researchers found that heart failure patients treated at home had no significant differences in hospital readmissions and mortality compared to patients treated in hospitals.  

“This patient-centered measure captures not only survival and readmission but also post-acute care utilization, an especially important outcome in older adults at risk for deconditioning after hospitalization,” wrote the authors of an invited commentary published alongside the study.

The study’s authors analyzed data from 307 propensity-matched pairs of people from 11 Kaiser Permanente Southern California locations, comparing individuals receiving at-home care with people receiving continued hospital care for heart failure. The patients were adults, on average 75 years old and 61% male, who had been hospitalized with a principal heart failure diagnosis between February 2023 and December 2024.

Before matching, researchers noted heart failure patients receiving care at home had more comorbidities than patients treated in hospital settings. However, the study found no statistically significant differences in hospital readmissions, mortality and other outcomes for people receiving advanced medical care at home compared to traditional, brick-and mortar care. For instance, readmission rates were 19% for patients treated at home and 24% for patients treated in hospitals after 30 days.

“The findings… support the safety of AHCAH [advanced hospital care at home] programs for selected patients with [heart failure] and underscore the importance of studying this model across diverse health system contexts,” wrote the authors who provided commentary.

Despite comparative safety to the traditional hospital setting, the study’s authors found that only 6% to 7% of eligible patients were enrolled in advanced medical care at home for heart failure. According to the researchers, the slim percentage of patients receiving care at home could be caused by clinicians and patients feeling uncertain about newer programs, along with operational challenges related to advanced medical care at home.

Heart failure healing at home

Home health providers have long seen how at-home heart failure care can help patients.

Amedisys, a Baton Rouge-based home health provider acquired by UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) in 2025, launched a heart failure education program in 2017, and reported the following year that the program significantly reduced heart failure readmissions.

Amedisys’ program was designed to educate families and caregivers of loved ones with heart failure, training them to help individuals spot early intervention warning signs in a post-discharge home health setting.

Individuals with high-risk heart failure who used Amedisys’ program showed a 5% lower 30-day rehospitalization rate and 8% lower 60-day rehospitalization rate. Those with moderate-risk heart failure had 4% and 3% lower rates for 30-day and 60-day rehospitalizations, respectively, than patients who did not engage in Amedisys’ program.

The findings from the JAMA Network Open study diverge from some earlier research on post-discharge home health care for patients with heart failure. A 2018 study published in the Archives of Medical Science found that individuals with heart failure who received home health care were more likely to experience hospital readmissions.

Still, a 2024 study from Dispatch Health, a Denver-based high-acuity, in-home medical care provider, found that both patients and caregivers prefer hospital-at-home models when receiving care for their comorbidities, including heart disease.

Dispatch’s former Vice President of Medical Affairs, Dr. Patrick Kneeland, previously told HHCN that the preference stemmed from an individual’s general desire to heal at home and the ability to stay connected to their routines and mobility within familiar settings, thus boosting recovery.

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