Orlando Health launches Hospital Care at Home program

Orlando, FL (February 9, 2023) Orlando Health launched Hospital Care at Home, a program that provides acute hospital-level care in adult patients’ homes.

The program is available to Orlando Health patients who meet specific clinical criteria determined by emergency department and hospital staff at Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center and Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital.

The Orlando Health program is the first in Central Florida to be approved for Medicare and Medicaid patients, with future plans to expand the service for patients with private insurance and at other Orlando Health locations. It is an extension of a federal initiative created during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to increase hospital capacity and maximize resources.

“The Orlando Health Hospital Care at Home program expands our ability to provide patients with high-quality medical care beyond our excellent inpatient facilities,” said Siddharaj Shah, MD, senior director, Orlando Health Hospital Care at Home. “Patients with certain acute conditions can be monitored and treated within the comfort of their home. Studies have shown that not only is this safe and feasible in terms of quality of care and outcomes, but patients actually prefer it.”

Medical conditions that can be cared for safely in a home-based program include cellulitis, COPD, asthma, UTI, heart failure, COVID-19, pneumonia and gastroenteritis.

Portable technology connects patients to the Orlando Health Patient Care Hub for 24/7 remote monitoring and virtual care by nurses and providers plus in-person nursing check-ins daily.

To be eligible, a patient’s home must be a safe environment located within the determined geographical catchment area in case emergency care is required.

“In addition to recovering in the comfort of their own homes — with less stress on their family members — patients cared for at home experience better outcomes,” said Linda Fitzpatrick, assistant vice president, Advanced Care at Home. “Studies have shown improved outcomes result in lower readmission rates and higher patient satisfaction.”

For more information, visit https://www.orlandohealth.com/hospitalathome

About Orlando Health

Orlando Health, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, is a not-for-profit healthcare organization with $8.1 billion of assets under management that serves the southeastern United States.

Founded more than 100 years ago, the healthcare system is recognized around the world for Central Florida’s only pediatric and adult Level I Trauma program as well as the only state-accredited Level II Adult Trauma Center in Pinellas County. It is the home of the nation’s largest neonatal intensive care unit under one roof, the only system in the southeast to offer open fetal surgery to repair the most severe forms of spina bifida, the site of an Olympic athlete training facility and operator of one of the largest and highest performing clinically integrated networks in the region. Orlando Health has pioneered life-changing medical research and its Graduate Medical Education program hosts more than 350 residents and fellows.

The 3,238-bed system includes 23 hospitals and emergency departments – 18 of which are currently operational with five coming soon. The system also includes nine specialty institutes, more than 100 adult and pediatric primary care practices, skilled nursing facilities, an in-patient behavioral health facility under the management of Acadia Healthcare, and more than 60 outpatient facilities that include imaging and laboratory services, wound care centers, home healthcare services in partnership with LHC Group, and urgent care centers in partnership with FastMed Urgent Care. More than 4,000 physicians, representing more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties have privileges across the Orlando Health system, which employs more than 25,000 team members and more than 1,200 physicians. 

In FY22, Orlando Health served nearly 142,000 inpatients and 3.9 million outpatients. The healthcare system provided more than $782 million in total value to the communities it serves in the form of charity care, community benefit programs and services, community building activities and more in FY 21, the most recent period for which this information is available. Additional information can be found at http://www.orlandohealth.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @orlandohealth.