Parkland Hospital Home Program Brings Health Care Home

On Thursday Parkland Health announced the launch of its Hospital at Home program which allows patients to recover at home.

"We recognize that the hospital, the traditional hospital setting may not be the best place for the health and healing of many of our patients," said Dr. Stephen Harder a UT Southwestern physician working with Parkland's Hospital at Home program.

He said so far about 25 patients have participated in the program and the goal is to expand in 2023 for those who are eligible for at-home care.

"We work with fantastic nurses who are honestly the backbone of the program and they go to patients' houses two, three times a day as physicians I go out to take care of the patients every day," said Harder.

Nurses visit a patient twice a day, doctors make house calls and equipment is loaned to the patient.

"We have a patient right now who is getting IV antibiotics 24 hours a day while she's at home and we see her every day and take care of that for her," said Harder.

Nurses and doctors are able to monitor a patient's vitals from afar.

"As a physician, the most important thing to me is our patient safety and their well-being and I've been so incredibly happy with how our patients have done," said Harder.              

He said patients are able to keep up with a somewhat normal routine since they're at home sleeping in their own beds, eating their own food and in the comfort of their home.

"If they offer it do it, if they don't, ask about it, because it was really beneficial, and you're able to do your daily needs at the house as opposed to being in the hospital in the bed where you can't do what you need to do," said Gary Jackson,60, who was recently part of the Hospital at Home program.

Jackson who makes dresses and dance costumes by hand recently suffered a heart attack along with other health issues, including kidney dysfunction.

He said he had warning signs but was putting it off due to his deadlines for work, but when he went to the emergency room, doctors admitted him. He had a pacemaker put in and was in and out of the hospital for 3

"I was starting to feel better, but I needed to get work some done, I had prom season coming up and other dresses had to be made," said Jackson who was told about the Hospital at Home program.

Jackson said he was grateful to the program because he was able to not only do his work but also help take care of his elderly mother.

Parkland Health said the program is being used by hundreds of hospitals across the country.

"The program is shown to reduce cost, readmissions, Emergency Department room utilization, radiology and lab utilization and falls while improving hospital capacity, patient and family satisfaction, patient activity, nutrition intake and quality of life," the hospital said in a statement.

For more information about the program, click here.