Evaluation of patients' satisfaction with hospital-at-home care.

On July 1, 1997, in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, a pilot experiment of Hospital-at-Home Care (H-Hcare) was set up for a 2-year period at four sites to measure patients' satisfaction with this type of health care. Out of 174 patients referred to the H-Hcare program for a wide range of treatments, 107 were medical patients admitted for heart failure, community acquired pneumonia, or for an infectious disease requiring i.v.-antibiotherapy; 95 of these agreed to express H-Hcare satisfaction and dissatisfactions during a semistructured interview conducted 6 weeks after admission. H-Hcare was considered a viable alternative to hospitalization when the illness is not too serious, and for patients who are still independent and need little care. When patients are more severely ill, they prefer to go to hospital to avoid overburdening their caregivers and to feel more secure.