For US Veterans in the ICU, a Post-acute Recovery Center model of care was associated with fewer deaths during their transition from hospital to home care.


RT’s Three Key Takeaways

  1. The PARC model, which utilizes telehealth and nurse practitioners to aid ICU survivors, has been associated with fewer deaths and more days outside the hospital for veterans post-discharge, according to ATS 2024 data.
  2. A retrospective analysis of 195 veterans at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System indicated that high-risk veterans receiving PARC care had a median increase of four additional home days compared to controls within 90 days post-discharge.
  3. The study’s preliminary findings suggest that the PARC model could enhance transitional care, lower mortality rates, and increase hospital-free days, prompting plans for a prospective randomized trial across northeastern US VA facilities to further assess its impact.

Veterans who received care via the Post-acute Recovery Center (PARC) model after a serious illness experienced fewer deaths and more days outside of the hospital compared to those not enrolled in PARC, according to data presented at ATS 2024.

The PARC model utilizes telehealth and is administered by nurse practitioners to address the complex needs of ICU survivors during their transition from hospital to home.

The study involved a retrospective analysis of 195 veterans at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS), assessing mortality and non-hospital days up to 90 days after discharge. Veterans were classified using the PREDICT score, with those scoring above 15 considered high-risk. These high-risk veterans who received PARC care showed a median increase of four additional days at home compared to matched controls within the same period.

“Our findings, though preliminary, suggest that the PARC model could significantly improve transitional care, potentially lowering mortality rates and increasing hospital-free days for veterans,” said Hiam Naiditch, MD, MHS, a pulmonary and critical care fellow at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Across all VA medical centers in 2020, nearly half of the veterans discharged after critical illnesses such as sepsis and acute organ failure met this study’s high-risk criteria, potentially facing a significant increase in post-discharge care complexity, according to researchers. “The PARC model aims to alleviate the burden of these challenges by improving continuity of care and reducing the burden of follow-up care for patients,” Naiditch said.

Looking forward, the PARC study group plans to prospectively study the PARC model in a randomized trial across several northeastern US VA facilities to further evaluate its effectiveness and scalability.