Medical Protection has experienced increased interest in the concept known as hospital at home – which raises interesting philosophical and patient safety questions, writes Dr Graham Howarth, Medical South Africa Lead, Medical Protection.
He writes:
To begin with, the term hospital at home appears to be an accepted term not only in South Africa but also in other countries.
The importance of the language that we use cannot be over-emphasised. Hospital at home conjures up thoughts of being in a hospital environment and receiving care equivalent to what one would receive were one in a hospital environment.
Clearly this is not the case – in essence modern technology and telemetry allows for a patient to be better monitored at home, allowing for innovative clinical management, but there are two obvious and clear risks. ….more
