An evaluation of patient outcomes and cost-benefits associated with a home intravenous therapy program in Canada
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Home intravenous (IV) therapy programs are a growing community health initiative due to their safety, cost-effectiveness, and ability to facilitate earlier patient discharge. These programs provide nursing support for clients receiving antibiotic treatment at home and ongoing education for patients and caregivers. The Surrey Home IV program, launched two decades ago with 3–4 patients, expanded to approximately 505 patients by 2012 but had not been evaluated. This study aimed to assess the outcomes and cost benefits of the program through a retrospective chart review of 168 clients enrolled between January and December 2012. Data were analyzed statistically to evaluate outcomes. Findings indicated that socio-demographic factors (age, gender, caregiver support) were not significantly associated with readmissions or complications. Spousal caregivers facilitated quicker program acceptance by allowing earlier initiation of education. Longer hospital stays were associated with longer durations in the home IV program. Co-morbidities, diagnosis, or type of infection did not influence complications, readmissions, or program duration. Open wounds required an average of six weeks of IV therapy, while systemic infections needed 4–6 weeks. Cost analysis showed that a 40-day home IV program saved an estimated $8.147.160 compared to a hospital stay, demonstrating substantial savings for the health authority. The Surrey Home IV program has proven to be safe, cost-effective, and beneficial for patients, caregivers, and health systems. These findings highlight the value of supporting home IV therapy and patient self-care models to reduce healthcare costs while maintaining high-quality care.
Keywords: Health authority, home intravenous therapy, morbidities, mortalities, nursing care
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
- Authors who publish their articles in JHNS retain full copyright of their work.
- JHNS does not require authors to transfer their copyright to the journal or its publisher, Universitas Muhammadiyah Magelang. The authors grant JHNS a license for the first publication.
- As copyright holders, all authors have rights to reuse their work published in JHNS, subject to proper acknowledgment of the original publication in JHNS (including a full citation and DOI link) and the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license. These rights include, but are not limited to:
1) Posting copies of their published article on personal or institutional websites, or in institutional or other non-commercial subject repositories (as detailed in JHNS's Repository Policy).
2) Reproducing their article, in whole or in part, in other works created by them (e.g., in a book chapter or a review article), with proper citation to the JOSI publication.
3) Using their article for teaching purposes or internal institutional use.
4) Presenting their article at meetings or conferences and distributing copies.