The study compares these patients with an equivalent historical cohort and concludes that early transfer to Hospital at Home does not increase the risk of graft rejection, nor does it impact patient or graft survival during the first year. The results demonstrate a significant impact on care efficiency. The conventional hospital stay is reduced by almost half. During this period, the Hospital at Home (HDOM) professionals carry out daily face-to-face visits, laboratory tests, monitoring of immunosuppressant treatments and continuous clinical monitoring, with 24-hour availability to detect and respond quickly to any complications. A coordinated process between the HDOM professionals and the Kidney Transplantation Section.
Reduction in hospital stay
The study compares the first 100 kidney transplant patients who continued their recovery through HDOM with an equivalent historical cohort. The results show that this model reduces the conventional hospital stay from 9 to 5 days, without increasing the risk of graft rejection (11% vs 16%), or impacting patient or graft survival at one year (97% graft survival in both groups). No differences were observed in renal function or in readmission rates at 30 days (8% vs 16%) or at 90 days (19% vs 30%), confirming the safety of the model.
This new way of organizing the post-operative period also results in more efficient use of healthcare resources. The economic analysis shows that the overall cost of the transplant process is reduced by nearly €4,000 per patient, mainly due to the decrease in conventional hospitalization days and associated resource consumption, without compromising the quality of care or increasing readmissions.
The Clínic’s Hospital at Home programme, which has been running since 1996, has established itself as a benchmark model for providing highly complex hospital care outside of the hospital. Hospitalization at home after transplantation was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce the risk of nosocomial infections in transplant patients. This model has been stably integrated into the care of kidney transplant patients thanks to the coordination between the Nephrology, Urology and Hospital at Home teams.
Optimization of hospital resources
The authors conclude that Hospital at Home represents a safe and efficient alternative for the postoperative period after kidney transplantation and that it can contribute to optimizing hospital resources, reducing pressure on hospital beds and promoting patient recovery in a more comfortable environment, while maintaining the standards of healthcare excellence that characterize the kidney transplant programme at the Hospital Clínic Barcelona.
Study of reference:
Cucchiari, D., Aldea, A., Baronet, A. et al. Safety and economic benefits of early hospital-at-home transfer after kidney transplantation: a propensity-score matched study from Spain. Eur J Health Econ (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-026-01963-y
