In the July issue of 24x7 we covered the expansion of departments moving into the fairly uncharted terriroty of home care.

Despite dealing with less than desirable home conditions—including devices infested with cockroaches—the team at San Diego-based Rady Children’s Hospital found that taking this on made financial sense and would improve patient care.

Here’s what Chris Abe, RN, BSN, CIC, HEM, senior director of safety and support services at Rady said: “By bringing the equipment in and maintaining it correctly, we have saved the hospital a lot of money. This has all driven down our overhead costs, and rental costs have gone down. Savings are close to $200,000 a year, and that is factoring in even the salaries associated with performing the maintenance.”
 
Have you ventured into this area? If so, what tips do you have for a smooth transition? Is your department thinking about it? We hope you’ll blog about it with your colleagues by commenting on this.