Home Oxygen and Monitoring for COVID-19 Patients: A Multidisciplinary Team Approach

INTRODUCTION: During the initial COVID-19 pandemic peak, Stamford Hospital implemented a home oxygen program (HOP) to create a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary outpatient initiative without sacrificing a safe discharge. Primary care physicians monitored program participants, whose only indication for remaining admitted was an oxygen requirement. We retrospectively examined participant co-morbidities and outcomes, including death and readmission rates to evaluate HOP safety. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of program participants discharged between April 2020-Janurary 2021 was performed. Variables included demographics, oxygen requirement, days enrolled in the HOP, and major comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes (DM), hypertension (HTN), obesity, chronic kidney disease, malignancies and underlying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). RESULTS: Among the 138 HOP participants, ages ranged from 23 to 96 (Mean 65.5), with 47.1% female and 52.9% male. The most represented ethnicity included White (48.6%), Hispanic (29.7%), and Black (15.2%). Patients' average time in the HOP was 19 days, requiring an average of 1.7 L/min of home oxygen. Thirteen patients (9.4%) were readmitted to the hospital with 2.9% secondary to worsening COVID-19 hypoxia, but no deaths occurred at home. A significant relationship was found between age and highest home oxygen need. Patients with COPD, HTN, and DM had significantly higher oxygen requirements (P-value <0.05). CONCLUSION: Increasing age, underlying COPD, HTN, and DM were associated with higher oxygen requirements in participants. Given limited availability of hospital beds, and no occurrences of death at home, Stamford Hospital HOP safely helped provide care for sicker patients and enhanced resource allocation.