Case study: In metro Boston, the return of the house call

A non-profit primary care practice serving the Boston metro area has seen improved outcomes in caring for the frail elderly by re-instituting the age old practice of making house calls. Urban Medical of Jamaica Plain, MA provides house call service to 500 elderly, disabled and chronically ill persons enrolled in a special program. These patients are seen by a primary care professional--sometimes a physician, and sometimes a nurse practitioner--who typically come bearing an Internet-capable computer to give them added resources. On the one hand, the house calls cost about $150, or twice as much as typical office visit. On the other hand, a recent study of 90 frail elderly Urban Medical patients found that their total healthcare costs were 40 percent lower than the cost of care for similar patients not receiving house calls, largely due to lower hospitalization rates and fewer nursing home placements.

To learn more about this project:
- read this article in The Boston Globe

Related Articles:
Doctors making house calls--online
Home care model growing popular
Taking chronic care management to the road

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