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Are doctor house calls a remedy for health care reform?
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Chart shows how much revenue for health care is projected to be raised by taxing wealthy Americans.
It was very common before the 1970's for doctors to make house calls. Sometimes it was more of a necessity than a courtesy as patients were not able to leave their houses, but Dr. Peter Boling thinks its a good idea to bring it back.
Boling, who is geriatrician and head of general medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, says that he wants to convince Congress that the old-fashioned house call could be an answer to the health care reform.
The program would be called "Independence at Home" and it is winning support from Republicans and Democrats as a more cost-effective way to help patients.
For example, many patients that are sick or recovering at home, may not remember to care for themselves or put off a doctor visit until it ends up being an emergency. In both circumstances, a home visit from a doctor would help cut costs by eliminating ER visits.
The program would partner Medicare with home-based primary care teams to determine if house calls would reduce preventable ER visits and duplicate tests.
Currently, there are house call programs in place in San Diego and Boston and with the Department of Veterans Affairs which started in 1970. There are 20,000 veterans enrolled and a 2002 study showed there was a 24 percent reduction in cost care with the program.
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