Why are Infusions Performed at Home?
Until the 1980s, patients needing infusion therapy had no option but to remain in an inpatient setting until the completion of their therapy. With the heightened emphasis on cost-effectiveness and cost-containment in health care, clinicians began to search for strategies to eliminate or reduce these costly inpatient stays. For individuals requiring long-term therapy (such as those requiring lifelong intravenous nutrition support) inpatient care is not only tremendously expensive, but also prevents the individual from resuming normal lifestyle and work activities. Home infusion has been proven to be a safe and effective alternative to inpatient care for many disease states and therapies. For most patients, receiving treatment at home or in an outpatient clinic setting is preferable to inpatient care. A thorough patient assessment and home assessment are performed before initiating infusion therapy at home to ensure that the patient is an appropriate candidate for home care.
