Discovery Hospital at Home

At Discovery, the increased adoption of digital healthcare has been evidenced by exponential increase in the use of telemedicine with Discovery Connected Care logins having increased by 763% since 2019. This increased adoption of digital healthcare globally and the need to ease the burden on increasingly overwhelmed healthcare systems, highlighted the patient’s home as an important and relevant setting for delivering healthcare. This presented a unique opportunity for technology to enable delivery of safe, efficient, and convenient hospital-level clinical care in a home environment.

In May 2021, Discovery Health launched Discovery Hospital at Home to provide an alternative setting of care for members diagnosed with COVID-19. More than 100 members of the Discovery Health Medical Scheme were successfully treated for COVID-19 in their homes during 2021, all with the same or improved levels of clinical outcomes and a better patient experience. In January 2022 the program eligibility criteria were expanded to include all clinically appropriate medical and post-surgical conditions that would otherwise require an admission to hospital for general ward level of care.

Discovery Health administered medical scheme members admitted to Hospital at Home have access to a range of benefits and services, delivered through their personalised care team. Together, these benefits and services ensure a seamless healthcare experience for patients and superior clinical outcomes. All services offered as part of Discovery’s Hospital at Home programme are funded from the member’s hospital benefit where there is a valid pre-authorisation. This includes funding for approved devices and healthcare services for those who meet the clinical and benefit criteria.

The backbone for Hospital at Home is Discovery’s Connected Care Platform, which was launched in November 2020 and includes world-class telehealth capabilities, digital tools for members and doctors and integration with Discovery’s Hospital at Home platform and remote monitoring devices. This enables real-time and comprehensive tracking of clinical progress and fast and efficient delivery of care including all aspects found in a typical hospital setting.