How might Hospital at Home enable a greener and healthier future?

Abstract

Traditional healthcare delivery models face mounting pressure from rising costs, increasing demand, and a growing environmental footprint. Hospital at Home (HaH) has been proposed as a potential solution, offering care at home through in-person, virtual, or hybrid approaches. Despite focus on expanding HaH provision and capacity, research has primarily explored patient care outcomes, patient satisfaction economic costs with a key gap in its environmental impact. By reducing this evidence gap, HaH may be better placed as a positive enabler in delivering healthier planet and population. This article explores the environmental opportunities and challenges associated with HaH compared to traditional hospital care and reinforces the case for further research to comprehensively quantify the environmental impact including any co-benefits. Our aim for this article is to spark conversation, and begin to help prioritise future research and analysis.