Saturday, January 16, 2010

Bringing back house calls

Great NBC Nightly News “Making a difference” piece on doctors making house calls (thanks to Lizzie for sharing this!)

Each year, Medicare patients with multiple illnesses (3 million people) see an average of 13 different doctors, receive 50 different prescriptions, and account for 76% of hospital admissions.

House calls will help keep people OUT of the hospital, and save Medicare as much as $50 billion.

Let’s hope the health reform bill happens. Encouraging house calls has bipartisan support and will be beneficial for all involved...  patients, physicians, and the health system.

1 comment:

  1. I accompanied one of Dr. Boling's colleagues on a house call, and I loved it! Not only was it more comfortable for the immobile patient and less burdensome for her caregiver, but it was also beneficial for the healthcare provider, who could assess the living situation. We were able to examine the patient, draw blood, and document her medications--all within her bedroom!

    This video has more information about the Independence at Home Act: http://www.virginiageriatricssociety.org/dr-peter-boling-on-the-independence-at-home-act-video

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