Hospital care comes home: could your living room replace a hospital bed?
NCT ID NCT03524222
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study is testing whether adults with sudden illnesses like infections, heart failure, or COPD can be safely treated at home instead of in a hospital. Researchers will compare costs, patient experience, and health outcomes for 3,000 participants who receive hospital-level care at home. The goal is to see if home hospitalization is a practical and effective alternative to traditional hospital stays.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Home hospitalization model of care
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could offer a safe, lower-cost alternative to hospital care for certain acute illnesses, improving patient comfort and freeing up hospital beds.
- What could go wrong
- This is a non-randomized study, so results may be biased. It only includes patients near the hospital with a caregiver, limiting generalizability. Safety and effectiveness compared to standard hospital care are still being evaluated.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 3,000 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jan 2018
- Expected to finish
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Sep 2031
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Resides within either a 5-mile or 20 minute driving radius of emergency department * Has capacity to consent to study OR can assent to study and has proxy who can consent * \>= 18 years-old * Can identify a potential caregiver who agrees to stay with patient for first 24 hours of admission. Caregiver must be competent to call care team if a problem is evident to her/him. After 24 hours, this caregiver should be available for as-needed spot checks on the patient. This criterion may be waived for highly competent patients at the patient and clinician's discretion. * Primary or possible diagnosis of cellulitis, heart failure, complicated urinary tract infection, pneumonia, COPD/asthma, other infection, chronic kidney disease, malignant pain, diabetes and its complications, gout flare, hypertensive urgency, previously diagnosed atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response, anticoagulation needs, or a patient who desires only medical management that requires inpatient admission, as determined by the emergency room team. Exclusion Criteria: * Undomiciled * No working heat (October-April), no working air conditioning if forecast \> 80°F (June-September), or no running water * On methadone requiring daily pickup of medication * In police custody * Resides in facility that provides on-site medical care (e.g., skilled nursing facility) * Domestic violence screen positive * Acute delirium, as determined by the Confusion Assessment Method * Cannot establish peripheral access in emergency department (or access requires ultrasound guidance) * Secondary condition: end-stage renal disease, acute myocardial infarction, acute cerebral vascular accident, acute hemorrhage * Primary diagnosis requires multiple or routine administrations of intravenous narcotics for pain control * Cannot independently ambulate to bedside commode * As deemed by on-call medical doctor, patient likely to require any of the following procedures: computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, endoscopic procedure, blood transfusion, cardiac stress test, or surgery * High risk for clinical deterioration * Home hospital census is full (maximum 5 patients at any time)
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
2 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital
RECRUITINGBoston, Massachusetts, 02130, United States
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Brigham and Women's Hospital
RECRUITINGBoston, Massachusetts, 02115, United States
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