The Eastern Clinical University Hospital of Riga (Eastern Hospital) has summarized the initial results of the "Home Hospital" pilot project, which has been operating since November 2025.
Remote Treatment: How It Works
"Home Hospital" is a new service of the Eastern Hospital that provides patients with chronic diseases daily health monitoring and treatment in case of disease exacerbation.
What is significant: frequent hospitalization of such patients creates an additional burden for emergency departments - on the busiest days, they have to assist 250-280 patients per day.
Haralds Plaudis, a board member of the Eastern Hospital, admitted that people in his institution have a hard time: "No matter how absurd it sounds, but the hospital is the worst place for a patient to receive treatment. If they can receive treatment at home, even complex and comprehensive, both the patient and society benefit. The hospital is, among other things, an additional stress and a possibility of catching some infection."
Patients Are Trained
The "Home Hospital" project aims to provide treatment and care in home settings. The patient is provided with special medical equipment for taking measurements, medications (if needed), and an individual plan for transmitting readings - there is a special mobile application for this. Patients are trained on how to use the medical equipment and the application.
Doctors and nurses under the project must be available continuously - 24 hours a day with the ability to communicate via text, phone, or video calls.
Remote treatment and supervision are carried out in shifts by two nurses and two doctors. They study the patient's data and provide consultations. If necessary, someone from the team goes to the patient "in person", that is, to their home. For example, if medication needs to be administered intravenously or to personally assess the patient's health condition.
Since the pilot project began in November 2025 and until the first days of February, 152 patients participated in the project receiving treatment at home. During this period, there were 497 home visits by medical professionals; 597 doctor consultations were provided in video format, and over 6600 SMS messages were sent for research and consultations.
The Idea Was Born During the Pandemic
The concept of "Home Hospital" is being implemented in Scandinavian countries, the USA, Canada, and other countries where this model of patient care and treatment has developed actively during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The pilot project "Home Hospital" at the Eastern Hospital will continue until the end of April 2026. It is planned that 300 patients in Riga will participate. If the pilot project is deemed successful, the Eastern Hospital will also be able to train regional hospitals in implementing this model.
