CHAP High-Acuity Care at Home Standards of Excellence - v.1.0.0

Introduction to the High-Acuity at Home Standards of Excellence

High-Acuity Care at Home represents a transformative shift in healthcare delivery, merging advanced medical care with the comfort and convenience of a patient's residence. This model is now becoming an integral part of modern healthcare systems, driven by technological advancements, patient preferences, and the need to optimize healthcare resources.

CHAP’s concept of High-Acuity Care at Home stems from the Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCAH) initiative which allows certain Medicare-certified hospitals to provide inpatient-level care at home. This care model reduces inpatient admissions, shortens hospital stays, and enables early discharge with accurate home care. Nurses, physicians, and allied health professionals coordinate care for conditions like infectious diseases, chronic respiratory and cardiac issues, postsurgical recovery, geriatric and psychiatric care, rehabilitation, orthopedic treatment, and diagnostics.1

CHAP defines High-Acuity Care at Home as a viable alternative to traditional hospital care, particularly for patients with acute medical conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation, heart failure, and acute infections. CHAP’s High-Acuity Care at Home certification includes patient-centered standards of practice that are aligned in Key Performance Areas (KPAs) which focus on providing patients with complex quality care in the home environment.

Key Performance Areas for CHAPS standards of Excellence, High-Acuity Care at Home Program Certification effective 08/20/25

• Patient-Centered Care
  • Patient-Centered Care
  • Assessment, Planning, and Coordination
  • Care Delivery and Treatment
• Safe Care Delivery
  • Infection Prevention and Control 
  • Emergency Preparedness 
• Sustainable Organizational Structure
  • Human Resource Management
  • Continuous Quality Improvement
  • Leadership and Governance
  • Information Management

High-Acuity Care at Home Certification is designed for organizations that are actively delivering or developing:

• Hospital-Level Care at Home programs
• Enhanced home health services managing complex or recently hospitalized patients
• Health system-aligned post-acute programs expanding into acute-level home care
• Risk-bearing entities seeking to demonstrate capability across levels of home-based care

If your organization is already delivering high-acuity services or is preparing to, this certification will help you solidify your foundation, differentiate your model, and engage more confidently with partners and payers.