Health
Home hospital care brings ‘phenomenal’ benefits to patients and providers, study finds
A growing number of patients and providers are heralding the benefits of bringing hospital care into private homes — but a lack of permanent federal funding could put such programs at risk.
The shift to in-home care began with the onset of COVID in March 2020, when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) launched its Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver program in response to a shortage of beds.
The program enables hospitals to receive the same reimbursement for home care as they would for patients who are treated in actual facilities.
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Since the program’s launch, hundreds of hospitals in 37 states have implemented home care for thousands of patients.
One of those is the Mass General Brigham (MGB) network in downtown Boston, which launched its Healthcare at Home program in 2016.
A growing number of patients and providers are heralding the benefits of bringing hospital care into people’s homes, though a lack of permanent federal funding could put such programs at risk. (Mass General Brigham)
MGB’s Home Hospital is one of the largest in the country, serving 66 neighborhoods from five of its facilities.
Since its launch, the program has had over 2,400 home hospital admissions, translating to more than 12,700 acute care bed days saved, according to a press release from the hospital.
Dr. Stephen Dorner, chief clinical and innovation officer at MGB Healthcare at Home, talked to Fox News Digital about the program’s growth and goals, as well as the benefits for patients and providers.
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“In January 2022, we had an average census of nine patients — today, we have an average census of 36 patients with an overall capacity for 40,” he said in a Zoom interview.
“We will continue to grow that in the months and years ahead until we ultimately shift at least 10% of current inpatient volume out of hospitals and into patients’ homes.”
Dorner sees home-based care as a viable solution for the “massive capacity crisis” facing the nation’s hospitals.
Patients are “more willing to accept home hospital care because they spend so much time dealing with their chronic illness and they’d like to be able to spend more time at home,” said one doctor. (Mass General Brigham)
“Health care just costs too much money,” he said. “And especially as we look at the aging baby boomer generation and the amount of care they’re going to need — particularly as longevity increases — we have to find new, lower-cost ways to do things.”
The ability to deliver acute inpatient care in people’s homes is a “phenomenal” way to improve overall access to care and reduce medical costs, Dorner noted.
Patients’ demand for home care
While home hospital care isn’t for everyone, many patients are more than willing to receive it.
“The patients who are most willing to accept home hospital care are those who are most in tune and aware of what their medical needs are,” Dorner told Fox News Digital.
“Health care just costs too much money … We have to find new, lower-cost ways to do things.”
That typically includes patients with chronic conditions that may lead to frequent hospitalizations, such as heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, he noted.
“They’re more willing to accept home hospital care because they spend so much time dealing with their chronic illness and they’d like to be able to spend more time at home,” the doctor said.
MGB has also had “great success” in admitting patients with new, acute issues that they’ve never dealt with before, such as cellulitis, kidney infection or pneumonia, Dorner added.
The corporate offices of Massachusetts General Brigham hospitals is pictured in Assembly Square in Somerville, Massachusetts, on Jan. 27, 2022. Mass General Brigham launched its Healthcare at Home program in 2016. (Getty Images)
“Folks want to have the creature comforts of being in their own bed, eating their own food, petting their dog as they’re recovering, being able to have loved ones come and visit, and not having to trek into the city and pay for parking and all of those things,” he said.
Patients enjoy the personalized nature of in-home care, Dorner also said.
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“About 60% to 70% of our visits are actually conducted in the home, not virtually,” he said. “So we’re sending physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants into the homes of our patients to be able to see them firsthand, which gives them a unique vantage point of understanding the patients’ home environment.”
He added, “Many of the patients tell us they never want to receive hospital-based care again. They want to know how they can get all of their care from the comfort of their own home.”
“The patients who are most willing to accept home hospital care are those who are most in tune and aware of what their medical needs are,” the chief clinical and innovation officer at MGB Healthcare at Home told Fox News Digital. (Mass General Brigham)
The program also has the potential to alleviate provider burnout.
“We’ve heard from our clinicians that the time they spend in home hospital care delivery is among the most meaningful encounters they’ve had in their entire careers,” Dorner said.
That doesn’t mean that all care can be brought into the home, however.
“We’re not building ICUs in the home, and we’re not looking to conduct surgeries in anybody’s living room,” Dorner said.
“But in the right conditions, we’d like to be able to build a complement in the home-based environment.”
“We’re not building ICUs in the home, and we’re not looking to conduct surgeries in anybody’s living room.”
Dr. Shana Johnson, a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician in Scottsdale, Arizona, also voiced her support of the home hospital model.
“With appropriate patient selection, acute hospital care at home is an important care model to continue,” said Johnson, who is not involved with MGB’s program or research.
Researchers found that the patients who received home care had low rates of mortality (0.5% during hospitalization and 3.2% at 30 days). (Mass General Brigham)
“For certain medical conditions, the quality of care and outcomes appear equal to or better than in-hospital care,” she added.
“In particular, some studies have found fewer complications from inactivity, such as pressure sores, reduced need for skilled nursing facilities, and lower hospital readmission rates.”
Proven benefits
To measure the outcomes of its Home Hospital program, MGB researchers recently conducted a study that was published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
The team analyzed the outcomes of 5,858 U.S. patients who received home hospital care between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023.
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The patients in the study had “medically complex conditions,” including 42.5% with heart failure, 43.3% with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 22.1% with cancer and 16.1% with dementia, the researchers noted.
The five most common discharge diagnoses were heart failure, respiratory infection (including COVID), sepsis, kidney/urinary tract infections and cellulitis.
The researchers found that the patients who received home care had low rates of mortality (0.5% during hospitalization and 3.2% at 30 days). Only 62.2% of them were “escalated” to the hospital.
Within 30 days of discharge, 2.6% of patients used a skilled nursing facility and 15.6% were readmitted, the MGB researchers found. (iStock)
Within 30 days of discharge, 2.6% used a skilled nursing facility and 15.6% were readmitted, numbers the researchers described as lower than expected.
“Home Hospital is serving very complex and acutely ill patients — these are not ‘cherry-picked’ patients,” study co-author David Michael Levine, M.D., clinical director for research and development for MGB’s Healthcare at Home, told Fox News Digital.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to show the true complexity and acuity of patients cared for in this model on a national basis.”
The researchers also concluded that Home Hospital delivers “equitable care across traditionally underserved populations,” Levine said.
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“We know that traditional hospital care has large disparities in outcomes across underserved groups, and we don’t see that with Home Hospital.”
Johnson, who reviewed the findings of MGB’s study, said she found them to be consistent with previous research.
“This study of acute hospital care at home showed low rates of mortality, hospital escalation and skilled nursing facility use,” she told Fox News Digital. “These positive outcomes were seen for socially vulnerable patients as well.”
Providers are concerned that the Acute Hospital Care at Home program is still a temporary payment mechanism, as the waiver is set to expire in Dec. 2024. (iStock)
The study was limited, however, as it was based on observational data and did not have the capability to compare the numbers to in-hospital patients.
“Comparing home hospital patients to traditional hospital patients takes a lot of additional research,” said Levine. “We wouldn’t want to compare home hospital patients to, say, surgical patients or labor and delivery patients.”
He added, “If you simply look at all hospitalizations, yes, these numbers are better — but that is not a worthwhile comparison. We are currently undertaking this more advanced analysis.”
Barriers to home hospital care
Providers are concerned that the Acute Hospital Care at Home program is still a temporary payment mechanism.
The waiver is set to expire in Dec. 2024 unless Congress takes action to extend it or make it permanent.
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“A permanent payment mechanism is critical in order for more people to have access to Home Hospital care,” Levine told Fox News Digital.
“We wanted to conduct this national analysis so there would be more data for policymakers and clinicians to make an informed decision about extending or even permanently approving the waiver to extend opportunities for patients to receive care in the comfort of home.”
The shift to in-home care began with the onset of COVID in March 2020, when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched its Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver program in response to a shortage of beds. (iStock)
When contacted for comment, the American Hospital Association (AHA) provided a statement.
“Emerging evidence suggests hospital care at home is safe, effective and useful to many patients. The AHA supported last year’s congressional extension of the regulatory flexibilities that have enabled hospitals to continue their hospital at home programs, and is working to ensure this innovative model of care remains available to patients and communities.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requesting comment on the potential extension of the Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver program.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health.
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In a dramatic turn of events that’s captured the attention of animal lovers worldwide, Punch — the young macaque at a zoo in Japan famous for his inseparable bond with a stuffed orangutan toy — has reached a major milestone in his journey toward social integration.
On Thursday, visitors and staff at the Ichikawa Zoological and Botanical Garden witnessed a breakthrough: Punch was seen cuddling with and hitching a ride on the back of a fellow macaque.
Punch’s story began with hardship. He was abandoned by his mother shortly after his birth in July 2025 — and to ensure his survival, zookeepers stepped in to hand-rear the primate.
On Jan. 19, 2026, the zoo officially began the process of reintegrating Punch into the “monkey mountain” enclosure.
The transition was initially fraught with tension.
Punch’s story began with hardship when he was abandoned by his mother shortly after he was born. To help him, zookeepers gave him a stuffed toy that he began dragging around everywhere he went. (David Mareuil/Anadolu via Getty Images)
As a hand-reared infant, Punch was bullied and ignored by the established group of monkeys.
He was often seen huddled alone with his orange plush companion while the rest of the troop interacted.
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In an official statement released Feb. 27, the Ichikawa Zoological and Botanical Garden detailed the meticulous care behind this process.
Previous viral videos showed Punch bullied by the rest of the troop, running to his plushy toy for comfort. (David Mareuil/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“From an animal welfare perspective, our primary goal is to reintegrate Punch with the troop,” the zoo said.
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The strategy involved nursing Punch within the enclosure, so the troop could recognize him as one of their own, and pairing him with a gentle young female macaque prior to his full release to build his confidence.
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The latest footage, captured by X user @tate_gf, suggested the zoo’s patience is paying off.
The video shows Punch seeking physical contact not from his toy, but from another monkey — eventually climbing onto its back for a vital social behavior for young macaques: the “piggyback ride.”
The zoo’s strategy appears to be paying off: Punch, shown at far left, was recently seen riding on the back of a fellow macaque. (David Mareuil/Anadolu via Getty Images)
While Punch still carries his stuffed toy for comfort during moments of perceived danger, the zoo remains optimistic about his progress.
The organization cited the successful 2009 case of Otome, another hand-reared macaque who eventually outgrew her stuffed toy, successfully integrated — and went on to raise four offspring of her own.
The zoo has had crowds coming to see Punch, with hundreds of people lining up to get inside to see the young star, according to reports.
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“I’m hoping Punch has a good life like everybody else does, and think he’s a cute little guy,” one person commented online.
“Such a precious baby,” another person wrote.
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This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Artificial intelligence has been touted as a boon to healthcare, but a new study has revealed its potential shortcomings when it comes to giving medical advice.
In January, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Health, the medical-focused version of the popular chatbot tool.
The company introduced the tool as “a dedicated experience that securely brings your health information and ChatGPT’s intelligence together, to help you feel more informed, prepared and confident navigating your health.”
But researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found that the tool failed to recommend emergency care for a “significant number” of serious medical cases.
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine on Feb. 23, aimed to explore how ChatGPT Health — which is reported to have about 40 million users daily — handles situations where people are asking whether to seek emergency care.
Artificial intelligence has been touted as a boon to healthcare, but a new study has revealed its potential shortcomings when it comes to giving medical advice. (iStock)
“Right now, no independent body evaluates these products before they reach the public,” lead author Ashwin Ramaswamy, M.D., instructor of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, told Fox News Digital.
“We wouldn’t accept that for a medication or a medical device, and we shouldn’t accept it for a product that tens of millions of people are using to make health decisions.”
Emergency scenarios
The team created 60 clinical scenarios across 21 medical specialties, ranging from minor conditions to true medical emergencies.
Three independent physicians then assigned an appropriate level of urgency for each case, based on published clinical practice guidelines in 56 medical societies.
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The researchers conducted 960 interactions with ChatGPT Health to see how the tool responded, taking into account gender, race, barriers to care and “social dynamics.”
While “clear-cut emergencies” — such as stroke or severe allergy — were generally handled well, the researchers found that the tool “under-triaged” many urgent medical issues.
The team created 60 clinical scenarios across 21 medical specialties, ranging from minor conditions to true medical emergencies. (iStock)
For example, in one asthma scenario, the system acknowledged that the patient was showing early signs of respiratory failure — but still recommended waiting instead of seeking emergency care.
“ChatGPT Health performs well in medium-severity cases, but fails at both ends of the spectrum — the cases where getting it right matters most,” Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital. “It under-triaged over half of genuine emergencies and over-triaged roughly two-thirds of mild cases that clinical guidelines say should be managed at home.”
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Under-triage can be life-threatening, the doctor noted, while over-triage can overwhelm emergency departments and delay care for those in real need.
Researchers also identified inconsistencies in suicide risk alerts. In some cases, it directed users to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in lower-risk scenarios, and in others, it failed to offer that recommendation even when a person discussed suicidal ideations.
“ChatGPT Health performs well in medium-severity cases, but fails at both ends of the spectrum.”
“The suicide guardrail failure was the most alarming,” study co-author Girish N. Nadkarni, M.D., chief AI officer of the Mount Sinai Health System, told Fox News Digital.
ChatGPT Health is designed to show a crisis intervention banner when someone describes thoughts of self-harm, the researcher noted.
OpenAI launched ChatGPT Health, the medical-focused version of the popular chatbot tool, in January 2026. (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We tested it with a 27-year-old patient who said he’d been thinking about taking a lot of pills,” Nadkarni said. “When he described his symptoms alone, the banner appeared 100% of the time. Then we added normal lab results — same patient, same words, same severity — and the banner vanished.”
“A safety feature that works perfectly in one context and completely fails in a nearly identical context … is a fundamental safety problem.”
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The researchers were also surprised by the social influence aspect.
“When a family member in the scenario said ‘it’s nothing serious’ — which happens all the time in real life — the system became nearly 12 times more likely to downplay the patient’s symptoms,” Nadkarni said. “Everyone has a spouse or parent who tells them they’re overreacting. The AI shouldn’t be agreeing with them during a potential emergency.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Open AI, creator of ChatGPT, requesting comment.
Physicians react
Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, called the new study “important.”
“It underlines the principle that while large language models can triage clear-cut emergencies, they have much more trouble with nuanced situations,” Siegel, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
ChatGPT and other LLMs can be helpful tools, a doctor said, but they “should not be used to give medical direction.” (iStock)
“This is where doctors and clinical judgment come in — knowing the nuances of a patient’s history and how they report symptoms and their approach to health.”
ChatGPT and other LLMs can be helpful tools, Siegel said, but they “should not be used to give medical direction.”
“Machine learning and continued input of data can help, but will never compensate for the essential problem – human judgment is needed to decide whether something is a true emergency or not.”
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Dr. Harvey Castro, an emergency physician and AI expert in Texas, echoed the importance of the study, calling it “exactly the kind of independent safety evaluation we need.”
“Innovation moves fast. Oversight has to move just as fast,” Castro, who also did not work on the study, told Fox News Digital. “In healthcare, the most dangerous mistakes happen at the extremes, when something looks mild but is actually catastrophic. That’s where clinical judgment matters most, and where AI must be stress-tested.”
Study limitations
The researchers acknowledged some potential limitations in the study design.
“We used physician-written clinical scenarios rather than real patient conversations, and we tested at a single point in time — these systems update frequently, so performance may change,” Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital.
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Additionally, most of the missed emergencies happened in situations where the danger depended on how the condition was changing over time. It’s not clear whether the same problem would happen with acute medical emergencies.
Because the system had to choose just one fixed urgency category, the test may not reflect the more nuanced advice it might give in a back-and-forth conversation, the researchers noted.
ChatGPT Health is designed to show a crisis intervention banner when someone describes thoughts of self-harm. (iStock)
Also, the study wasn’t large enough to confidently detect small differences in how recommendations might vary by race or gender.
“We need continuous auditing, not one-time studies,” Castro noted. “These systems update frequently, so evaluation must be ongoing.”
‘Don’t wait’
The researchers emphasized the importance of seeking immediate care for serious issues.
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“If something feels seriously wrong — chest pain, difficulty breathing, a severe allergic reaction, thoughts of self-harm — go to the emergency department or call 988,” Ramaswamy advised. “Don’t wait for an AI to tell you it’s OK.”
The researchers noted that they support the use of AI to improve healthcare access, and that they didn’t conduct the study to “tear down the technology.”
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“These tools can be genuinely useful for the right things — understanding a diagnosis you’ve already received, looking up what your medications do and their side effects, or getting answers to questions that didn’t get fully addressed in a short doctor’s visit,” Ramaswamy said.
“That’s a very different use case from deciding whether you need emergency care. Treat them as a complement to your doctor, not a replacement.”
“This study doesn’t mean we abandon AI in healthcare.”
Castro agreed that the benefits of AI health tools should be weighed against the risks.
“AI health tools can increase access, reduce unnecessary visits and empower patients with information,” he said. “They are not inherently unsafe, but they are not yet substitutes for clinical judgment.”
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“This study doesn’t mean we abandon AI in healthcare,” he went on. “It means we mature it. Independent testing and stronger guardrails will determine whether AI becomes a safety net or a liability.”
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