Our hospital-at-home offer: inpatient care at home
Christian Ernst
May 12, 2025
8 min
In 2021, we became the first Swiss hospital to offer a fully-fledged alternative to hospitalisation with "Visit - Zollikerberg Hospital at Home". Patients receive medical care in their own home - at hospital level, but in familiar surroundings. The high level of satisfaction shows: Hospital at Home fulfils a contemporary need for care.
Hospital quality - where you feel most comfortable
With our "Visit - Zollikerberg Hospital at Home" service, we bring hospital treatment to your home. Instead of on the ward, our patients receive the same high-quality medical care in familiar surroundings and with all the benefits of Hospital at Home: more peace and quiet, self-determination and closeness to their loved ones.
But how exactly does "Visit" work? Patients are admitted via the emergency department during a regular hospital admission and undergo a medical assessment there. The prerequisite for care at the Hospital at Home is an existing need for hospitalisation and a place of residence that is no more than 15 minutes' drive from Zollikerberg Hospital. If the person is suitable for treatment at home and their consent and that of their relatives has been obtained, care begins as part of the "Visit" programme.
From this point onwards, our experienced hospital-at-home team of nurses and doctors will take over treatment in the patient's own home. The general condition is monitored using telemedicine: small electrodes on the chest continuously measure the heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation. This allows the hospital-at-home team to recognise at any time from the hospital how the patient is doing and react to changes at an early stage.
Appreciated by patients and relatives
Many people find it reassuring not to have to stay in hospital when they fall ill, but to be able to stay in their familiar surroundings. This is precisely where our "Visit - Zollikerberg Hospital at Home" service comes in.
With Hospital at Home, we strengthen the personal responsibility and self-determination of our patients. At the same time, treatment in familiar surroundings helps to avoid typical hospital risks such as infections, falls or states of confusion (delirium).
And this is well received: Our patients report a very high level of satisfaction with treatment at home. The average of their ratings is 5.9 out of 6 points - their relatives also rate the service at 5.8 out of 6 points (0 = poor, 6 = excellent).
On average, the duration of treatment at Hospital at Home is even shorter than with an inpatient hospital stay. Many also experience care in their own four walls as more personalised and individual. They retain more control over their everyday lives, can maintain familiar routines and actively and independently help to shape the course of their treatment.
To date, over 340 patients have been successfully cared for as part of our hospital-at-home service "Visit - Spital Zollikerberg Zuhause" - aged between 17 and 94, with a median age of 67.
93 per cent would opt for hospital-equivalent treatment at home again. Many would like "Visit" to become a permanent fixture at Zollikerberg Hospital - and, in the long term, a permanent fixture in healthcare provision throughout Switzerland.
More clinical pictures, more options
Initially, our "Visit - Zollikerberg Hospital at Home" service covered the care of five clinical pictures: High blood pressure, soft tissue infections, pneumonia, heart failure and COPD. We have since expanded our hospital-at-home offering - it is now also open to patients with other diagnoses. The aim is to enable even more people to receive safe, high-quality treatment in their own four walls.
The most frequently treated conditions to date include complicated urinary tract infections and renal pelvic inflammatory disease, pneumonia and soft tissue infections.
Inpatient treatment at your home
What you can expect in our Hospital-at-Home
With "Visit - Zollikerberg Hospital at Home", medical care comes directly to your home. With medical supervision, nursing care and telemedical monitoring - safe, personal and competent.
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