The American College of Cardiology (ACC) has published a new resource designed to help cardiologists and other members of the heart team provide high-quality care at a patient’s home.
The Home-Based Care Workbook details the advantages and disadvantages of seeing patients in the home as well as the principles and objectives of any successful home-based care program. The workbook also examines how healthcare providers can evaluate the success of their home-based care program to ensure they are proceeding down the right path.
“While interest in and access to home-based care has grown considerably in the last few years, these services often remain underutilized, especially in the case of acute and specialty care,” said Nivee P. Amin, MD, chair of the Home-Based Care Workbook writing committee, said in a prepared statement. “However, given the rise of chronic diseases like heart disease and many elderly people’s desire to remain in their own homes as they age, it is vital that we look at every possibility for how to appropriately provide care at home. The ACC created this workbook in hopes that all stakeholders in this space might see the possibilities and benefits of increasing home-based care.”
Home-based care can be implemented in multiple settings—it is much more than simply checking on a patient and taking certain measurements. Outpatient PCI, device placement, catheter ablation, follow-up care after acute coronary syndrome or critical limb ischemia, arrhythmia management and heart failure are just some of the scenarios that can be safely and effectively managed in a patient’s home.
“Many within the healthcare industry believe that cardiovascular care will be increasingly delivered in non-traditional ambulatory settings,” Amin said. “The cardiovascular care community must consider and prepare for this eventuality. The ACC looks forward to leading this effort so that home-based care improves patient access and outcomes.”
The full Home-Based Care Workbook is available for download here.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.