The Client Challenge

Virtua Health sought innovative ways to serve its community in southern New Jersey while also alleviating some pressing financial and operational challenges. Leadership identified hospital at home as a compelling transformational opportunity. Studies have shown such programs can lead to improved outcomes, lower total cost of care, and facilitate better patient experiences—with the added benefits of freeing up capacity and reducing future capital needs.

COMMON PITFALLS IN PLANNING & LAUNCH
  • No compelling vision limits positioning as enterprise priority
  • Limited stakeholder engagement inhibits buy-in
  • Little emphasis on organizational readiness and communications impedes adoption
  • Perpetual “pilot” mentality disincentivizes cultural infusion
  • No clear path to scale cultivates “opt-out” environment

Navigating to Next: The Solution

Virtua engaged Chartis to advise on its hospital at home journey. Chartis completed a capabilities assessment and business case in the first phase, demonstrating the incredible value driven by a hospital at home program for Virtua. This work supported the buy-in of the program by healthcare executives and aligned leadership around a comprehensive implementation plan. In parallel, Chartis collaborated with key stakeholders and received swift approval for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Acute Hospital Care at Home Waiver.

Next, Chartis and Virtua’s Hospital at Home development team established numerous workstreams across several collaborative working sessions, which enabled staff to embrace the operating model leading to broader adoption, a critical component of a thriving hospital at home program. Chartis provided oversight through a Project Management Office and ensured that leadership stayed focused on the highest priorities in each workstream by collaborating on detailed planning and workflow design.

Together, Chartis and Virtua built an operating model unique to Virtua’s organization, overcoming roadblocks and advancing the program’s development. The hospital at home program truly became the health system’s sixth hospital—one “without walls.”

Navigating to Next: Key Components

DEFINE

Define the Business Case

Quantify value drivers, volume projections, and cost elements

DESIGN

Design the Program

Define the clinical operating model, including tech requirements and infrastructure

IMPLEMENT

Implement with Agility

Develop an execution roadmap to dynamically manage the process

LAUNCH

Launch and Learn

Facilitate simulations and seek opportunities to streamline processes and scale

Client Impact

Following initial business case endorsement and CMS waiver approval, Virtua began experiencing another Covid-19 surge. Thanks to a resilient project structure, the team rapidly accelerated the timeline for detailed program design and launch to help alleviate capacity constraints. Virtua successfully launched the program at its Voorhees hospital 3 months ahead of schedule.

After the accelerated launch, the hospital at home program’s agility enabled continuous improvements. Within weeks, the program broadened patient eligibility by adding clinical conditions, increasing payer partners, and expanding its care team for program growth. Virtua’s hospital at home program is positioned to expand across all 5 hospitals by the end of 2022.

Within the first 8 months, more than 175 patients were in the program, with above-benchmark satisfaction rates:
542

days avoided from traditional hospital stays

~3

average length of stay—2.0+ days shorter than comparable patient cohort in traditional hospital

9

Inpatient beds removed from the capital expansion plan

How We Are Making Healthcare Better

With record high patient satisfaction and a huge reduction in length of stay and 30 day readmissions, Hospital at Home has proven to be a viable model for us as we move into the future. It is now a part of our strategic roadmap, along with how we can leverage this new service in new and innovative ways. ”

Michael Capriotti
Senior Vice President of Integration and Strategic Operations, Virtua Health

Next Intelligence

Building a successful hospital at home program requires:
  • Broad organizational alignment, around a clear vision and business case.
  • Thoughtful approach to organizational readiness, and managing change.
  • A nimble team, embracing disciplined continuous improvement approach.
  • A creative mindset with willingness to challenge the status quo.

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