A ribbon cutting by members of Yale New Haven Health who will participate in Home Hospital. Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Thomas Balcezak is at rear.

NEW HAVEN — A new program to provide hospital-level care to patients in their homes was launched this week by Yale New Haven Health.

Yale New Haven has contracted with a private company, Medically Home, to provide the service, which will be available to Medicare patients who live within 25 miles of Yale New Haven or Bridgeport hospitals, according to a release.

The program is expected to expand to other Yale New Haven hospitals in the future. Patients must meet clinical and social stability criteria to participate.

“Many patients prefer to be cared for in their homes,” said Dr. Olukemi Akande, physician executive director, post-acute care, in the release. “With the growth of telehealth and other mobile health technologies, we can provide a high level of care and 24/7 accessibility to these patients.”

Akande will co-lead the program with Dr. Scott Sussman, physician executive director of telehealth.

“Just as telehealth has transformed outpatient care, it is helping us rethink the way we provide inpatient care,” Sussman said in the release. “We can provide the same high-quality care in patients’ homes, reduce the risk of hospital-related complications and enhance our patients’ experience by caring for them in familiar surroundings.”

Patients will be in the program for an average of two to six days and then released to their primary physician’s care. Each patient will receive a video visit once a day from a doctor and in-person visits from a nurse twice a day, or more if needed, the release said.

Other services available are infusion therapy; physical, occupational and speech therapy; phlebotomy; mobile diagnostic services such as X-rays and echocardiograms; behavioral health care; and nutrition services. Other services, such as stat lab, imaging and IV services, will be available in urgent situations and each patient will have a personal emergency response device, the release said.

The program will be able to treat patients with heart failure, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cellulitis, among other conditions.