cover story one
Hospital at Home
Inside a growing trend
BY David W. Plocher, MD
Hospital at Home (HaH) is defined as a care management program designed to deliver acute care hospital services to medium acuity patients in their homes. While this model of care has been around for decades, there is recent growth in enthusiasm for its benefits. Its origins can be traced to the UK, Canada and Israel in the 1970s. In the United States, Johns Hopkins is credited for taking the first steps in 1995. They encountered barriers, however, with local payers, particularly state-based Blue Cross plans, who had no codes available for payment for acute care hospital services in the home.
cover story two
Community First Services and Supports: A New Model for Personal Care Support
By Mary Lenertz
In February 2024, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) received federal approval to replace Personal Care Assistance (PCA) and Consumer Support Grant (CSG) benefits with a new option called Community First Services and Supports (CFSS). This change will improve services for Minnesotans who need personal care support to live and thrive in the community.
Architecture
Designing Behavioral Health Care Spaces: An evolving element of architecture
By Dan Abeln
Our nation is facing a growing mental health crisis, with over 20% of the population directly impacted and needing care. Access to care is limited by many factors, from an insufficient workforce, to lack of insurance coverage, to lack of facilities. As the recognition of these problems and our ability to treat them evolves, it is increasingly important that the spaces designed for providing mental health care also evolve. Whether outpatient, inpatient, hospital-based, related to substance use disorders, group-based, individualized and so on, much has been learned about how the physical spaces where mental health care is provided can have a positive impact on outcomes.
