Mass General Brigham Home Hospital Expands to Support Oncology Patients

Latest offering aligns with the vision of the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute to harness all parts of the system and make care more accessible

Under a new initiative, Mass General Brigham is expanding its Home Hospital services by offering acute care at home for patients who have cancer. The expansion opens yet another pathway for patients to receive the high-quality, well-coordinated care that Home Hospital provides while helping to alleviate the capacity crisis at traditional brick-and-mortar facilities.

Home Hospital clinicians have been specially trained to support oncology patients and work closely with a team from the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute to ensure seamless coordination of care. While chemotherapy will continue to be administered in a clinical setting, eligible oncology patients can receive their oral cancer medications at home while being treated for other medical needs, including infections like pneumonia or COVID-19 or complications from their cancer treatments. Mass General Brigham Home Hospital has previously admitted a small number of patients with cancer, particularly those requiring treatment for medical conditions unrelated to their cancer diagnosis, such as heart failure, infections, gastrointestinal complications, and skin infections, and that will continue.

“In oncology, there is growing awareness about the idea of time toxicity, which is an acknowledgement of the time that patients spend traveling to healthcare facilities for their treatment and how that prevents them from being where they would rather be,” said Thomas Roberts, MD, MBA, an oncologist and clinical director of Oncology Services for Mass General Brigham Healthcare at Home. “In most cases, where they’d like to be is at home with their support system. Shifting care to the home also helps us protect these vulnerable patients from hospital-acquired infections and ease capacity constraints on our brick-and-mortar hospitals.”

Mass General Brigham runs one of the largest home hospitals in the country, offering services to 72 different communities around Greater Boston through five of its hospitals — Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Salem Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. This clinical expansion is aligned with the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute’s vision to harness the power of its entire system to expand leading-edge cancer care beyond large academic hospitals so that patients can access world-class care near or in their homes. Aligned with this systemwide vision, Home Hospital has expanded its capabilities to manage enteral nutrition, implanted ports or central venous catheters and oral cancer medications. As Home Hospital continues to grow, additional capabilities will be added in the future, such as transfusions and intravenous antineoplastic treatments.

Home Hospital was the best option for oncology patient Sandra Robak, 76, of Revere. While undergoing chemotherapy treatment at the hospital, Sandra developed an infection that required IV antibiotics, along with a cardiac complication known as tachycardia that required hospitalization. “I didn’t really want to stay in the hospital. That’s when they offered me Home Hospital,” Robak said.

After being transitioned to her home, Robak was able to receive all the treatment she would have had in an inpatient facility for both her infection and the tachycardia. This included the IV antibiotics she needed to combat the infection, multiple daily visits from her clinical team, and 24/7 monitoring of her heart rate and other vitals. Additionally, she was free to move about her home, eat familiar meals and be there with her family.

Since its inception, Mass General Brigham’s Home Hospital has been steadily growing in size and services while building the operational capabilities needed to safely scale the care model. Over the years, Home Hospital has expanded support to patients in post-operative recovery, including those recovering from colorectal, intra-abdominal and spinal surgeries, as well as postpartum patients with hypertension.

“Home Hospital improves patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes, and patients express a strong preference to recover in the comfort and familiar surroundings of their homes. This expansion reflects our commitment to prioritizing our most vulnerable patients, placing them at the heart of everything we do,” said Heather O’Sullivan, MS, APRN, president and chief operating officer of Mass General Brigham Healthcare at Home.