Why U.S. Patients Declined Hospital-at-Home during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: An Exploratory Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

To understand why US patients refused participation in hospital-at-home (H@H) during the coronavirus disease 2019 Public Health Emergency, eligible adult patients seen at 2 Mayo Clinic sites, Mayo Clinic Health System—Northwest Wisconsin region (NWWI) and Mayo Clinic Florida (MCF), from August 2021 through March 2022, were invited to participate in a convergent-parallel study. Quantitative associations between H@H participation status and patient baseline data at hospital admission were investigated. H@H patients were more likely to have a Mayo Clinic patient portal at baseline (P-value:.014), indicating a familiarity with telehealth. Patients who refused were more likely to be from NWWI (P-value