New Survey Shows Consumers Want Increased Access to Clinical Care at Home

WASHINGTON – On December 2, Moving Health Home (MHH), a coalition of health care organizations advocating for improved access to home-based care, released a national consumer survey sponsored by industry leaders BrightStar Care, Home Instead, Intermountain Healthcare, and Vituity.

During the pandemic, holidays have looked different. People have been separated from loved ones by distance and walls of health care facilities. This has been alleviated, in part, by federal flexibilities such as the Hospitals Without Walls (HWW) and Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCAH) waivers, that allowed hospitals to treat Medicare beneficiaries in their homes. However, these waivers are set to expire at the end of the public health emergency (PHE) unless Congress acts.

The survey, conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of MHH, speaks to the widespread support by adults for receiving care in their homes across the care continuum, including Hospital at Home.

“This emerging data proves what we are seeing with our patients – they are more comfortable and heal better at home,” says Dr. Nathan Starr, Medical Director of Home Services for Intermountain at Home and tele-hospitalist program.

In fact, the survey shows 73 percent of adults are confident in the quality of care they would receive in the home. Acute care in the home is not new and an overwhelming majority of people who have received it were satisfied (88 percent) and would be likely to recommend to family and friends (85 percent).

“This survey confirmed what we have known from our work at Home Instead – people want to age in place and receive care at home,” says Jisella Dolan, Chief Advocacy Officer at Home Instead + Honor.

Care in the home contributes to health equity by giving historically disenfranchised communities the option to receive care on their own terms. Care in the home promotes trust and communication by removing institutional aspects of the ‘system’ and placing the interaction in a familiar setting.

“The new benchmark in patient-centric care is delivering quality, compassionate care to patients by meeting them where they are,” says Dr. Theo Koury, President of Vituity.

The survey confirms as much, finding that 70 percent of those surveyed are comfortable receiving care in the home citing that a familiar environment helps alleviate anxiety.

A bipartisan majority of adults (73 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Republicans) say it should be a priority for the federal government to increase access to care in the home. Congress should act now to temporarily extend the HWW and AHCAH flexibilities for two years after the PHE while working to develop a permanent Acute Care in the Home Program.

“This study validates the importance of home care and while there’s still more to be done to make it affordable and accessible to all, we’re proud to partner with Moving Health Home to shape the future of home care,” says Shelly Sun, Founder and CEO of BrightStar Care.

 

For more information, please visit https://movinghealthhome.org/national-survey/