How it works

Steps to getting set up

Most patients enrolled in the Adventist Health Hospital@Home program arrive in the emergency room for treatment of an acute condition. In general, patients eligible for care in the program require hospitalization, but also meet other medical and social criteria to ensure that the program is safe and appropriate for them. Also, patients must live in a stable residence that meets their needs for safety, shelter and basic utilities while residing in the areas that are served by the program.

If you qualify for admission, your provider will meet with you and your family to review the program and then obtain written consent. Your provider will then write an admission note with orders for care and arrange transportation home, usually by ambulance.

Back in the home, patients receive hospital-level care from a team of doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and other professionals. This care includes:

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  • Access to your care team, who will respond to your medical needs via video and telephone, 24 hours a day, seven days a week

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  • Vital signs monitoring using a telehealth platform
  • In home visits by a nurse and other healthcare professionals

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  • Video visits by your care team
  • Lab tests, mobile imaging like X-rays and ultrasound, and IV therapies performed in your home

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  • Collaboration with your primary care physician and/or specialists
  • Complete report of your care sent to your primary care physician

Once discharged, our patients still have access to the care team around the clock for 30 days in case of any emergencies, health concerns or other issues. Please contact your insurance provider to make sure that this post-acute period care is covered.

Throughout the process, your primary care physician is updated on your progress.


Hear From Our Patients

  • COVID-19 patient welcomes care through Adventist Health Hospital@Home

    Terri Miller

    When Terri Miller took a COVID-19 test in order to travel to Maui, she got the surprise of her life. She tested positive, despite having no symptoms.

    Convinced the result must be a false positive, she took another test. It too said she was positive.

    Terri was unvaccinated, as was her husband, David. “David and I had chosen not to get vaccinated, for a variety of different reasons,” she explains.

    Soon, the disease symptoms showed up: chills, fever, cough and body aches. Six days after her positive test, Terri was sick enough to have a telemedicine visit with a doctor. The doctor prescribed steroids, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs and antivirals. The treatment provided relief, and in two days she felt much better.

    But the relief was short-lived. Struggling to breathe two days later, Terri went to the emergency room and was admitted to the hospital at Adventist Health Portland. “It’s a very isolated place to be in the hospital with COVID,” Terri says. Though she appreciated the “phenomenal” care she received, she found it difficult to be alone in a small hospital room, especially when she felt ill and afraid.

    To Terri’s relief, the hospital had another option: Adventist Health Hospital@Home. Through this program, she could benefit from the latest hospital technology and real-time monitoring from the comfort of home. Adventist Health offers the service in the Portland area and in five California communities, working with partner Medically Home, which supports home-based hospital care across the United States.

    Terri’s Adventist Health team set up a temporary virtual hospital unit for her, and two providers visited her every day to do blood draws and take X-rays. She had meals delivered, and a telemedicine provider was available on demand.

    Terri said she enjoyed having more space and having her husband with her.

    “I am thankful that I ended up in the Adventist Health system,” Terri says. “They are on the forefront of medical awareness for COVID, and there are not enough exclamation points for me to express the caring compassionate educational supportive team that is building this program.”

    Terri spent about two weeks in the program supported by oxygen therapy as her lungs healed. She continues to pray that no new symptoms appear and that she recovers completely.

    Given a second chance, Terri says she would do some things differently. “In reality, I probably would have chanced taking a vaccination, as I am now aware that the variants are going to continue to spread in the hosts that are not vaccinated,” she says. “And I would have entered the hospital earlier.”

    For today, it’s enough to watch the progression of her lung capacity and hope the effects of COVID-19 are temporary. Her advice to others is simple: “Be safe. Be well.”

    Terri Miller

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