The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that a second public release of data from the Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative will be available beginning on March 17, 2026. The new data set, which will be released through the Research and Data Assistance Center, covers information collected from April 1, 2023, through September 30, 2025.
This upcoming release complements previously published data spanning from the initiative’s launch in November 2020 through March 2023. According to CMS, researchers now have access to nearly five years of information on this care delivery model.
The Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative was developed in response to challenges faced by hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Launched in November 2020 under waiver authorities granted by section 1135 of the Social Security Act, it allowed certain Medicare-certified hospitals to provide inpatient-level care in patients’ homes. The program expanded upon the earlier "Hospital Without Walls" initiative introduced in March 2020. Congress has extended waivers and flexibilities associated with this program several times since the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency; most recently, section 6210 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 extended these provisions until September 30, 2030.
Hospitals participating in AHCAH are required to report critical safety and quality metrics either weekly or monthly based on their experience level. Data collection is mandated by section 1866G(a)(3)(E) of the Social Security Act for research purposes and must be made publicly available as required by section 1866G(d). The forthcoming dataset includes figures such as new patient admissions to home settings, patient escalations from home care back to hospital settings for further treatment, and unanticipated mortalities among patients—excluding those receiving hospice or palliative care.
Individuals interested in accessing this CMS data must request it through ResDAC with an approved Data Use Agreement. A comprehensive user’s guide will also be provided to support analysis efforts. Additional details about claims aggregation and eligibility for beneficiaries who received acute care at home are included as well. More information can be found according to the official roster page.
