A new study published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society found that house calls to elderly patients with chronic conditions keep healthcare costs down by reducing the need for expensive emergency room visits. The patients who utilize this care are some of Medicare’s most costly patients with multiple chronic conditions and difficulty managing medication and understanding when preventative care is needed.
The house call program at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, led by Dr. Eric DeJonge, Chief of Geriatrics at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, sends primary care doctors into the homes of some of Washington’s sickest patients. Home visits allow for the doctors to see the patient in their element and get a better sense of the patient’s overall health. The study shows that patients who were provided care in the home had 20 percent fewer emergency room visits and saved Medicare $8,477 per patient over a two year period.
The Medicare home health benefit currently serves 3.5 million senior and disabled Americans who, due to their medical condition, are qualified as homebound and receive skilled care in the comfort of their own homes. Unfortunately, due to recent funding cuts to Medicare, 1.3 million of these patients are at risk of losing access to this critically important service.
Starting on January 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began implementing a four year, 3.5 percent annual cut to the Medicare home health benefit, that will slash a total of 14 percent from funding. CMS itself conceded this cut will leave “approximately 40 percent” of providers operating at a net loss by 2017.