Home Health & Hospice Week

Hospital at Home programs are getting backlash from nurses, and that could affect their future trajectory.

Union National Nurses United and its affiliate the California Nurses Association single out Kaiser Permanente for criticism in a release. “Nurses are horrified by Kaiser’s attempts to redefine what constitutes a hospital and what counts as nursing care,” the unions say. “Not only does this program endanger the imminent safety and lives of patients, it completely undermines the central role registered nurses play in the hands-on care that patients need to safely heal and recover.”

Further, “the entire reason for being admitted into a hospital is to benefit from the 24/7 monitoring, assessment, and professional care that licensed registered nurses provide. Nurses, more than any other health care staff, spend the most time with patients,” they say. “We reject Kaiser’s assertion that iPads, cameras, monitors, and the occasional visit by likely lesser-skilled and unlicensed personnel are in any way comparable to the skilled, expert nursing care and social emotional support we RNs provide every moment of every shift.”

The unions note HAH programs’ growing popularity. “These types of programs are not limited to Kaiser but part of an industry trend that Kaiser seeks to be at the forefront in normalizing; at least 82 health care systems encompassing 186 hospitals in 33 states currently have permission from the federal government to operate and bill Medicare for these arrangements,” they highlight.

Bottom line: “Registered nurses are demanding that the hospital industry, the public, and private and government payers such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services abandon these plans to send home patients who should be admitted to hospitals,” the unions insist. “Patients must not be left home all alone.”