The rates of health care visits performed in peoples’ homes have declined sharply in the last century but there are signs that it may be undergoing a revival. A new study published by JAMA, an American medical journal, found that people who live with their parents or other family members spend more time at home than those living alone. There are significant advantages to performing medical visits at home, particularly amongst Medicare beneficiaries. Half of Medicare spending is taken up by only 5 percent of the Medicare population, whilst 1 percent of beneficiaries account for 23 percent of total costs. These patients often suffer from a range of chronic conditions and performing primary care at home both removes the stress of a hospital visit without shouldering the costs involved as well. In addition, primary care at home also supports preventative treatment plans. The HCCI has received a multimillion-dollar grant to offer home-based primary care training and its CEO, Dr. Thomas Cornwell, hopes the practice will eventually become a Medicare benefit, rather than a one-off treatment. Currently, the Independence at Home Demonstration from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is testing the use of primary care for seniors at home to evaluate the benefits for patients with multiple chronic conditions.
The rates of health care visits performed in peoples’ homes have declined sharply in the last century but there are signs that it may be undergoing a revival. One such indicator is the Home Centered Care Institute (HCCI), an institute that hopes to revive the practice of home healthcare visits which has fallen from 40 percent of interactions in 1930 to less than 1 percent by 1980. There are significant advantages to performing medical visits at home, particularly amongst Medicare beneficiaries. Half of Medicare spending is taken up by only 5 percent of the Medicare population, whilst 1 percent of beneficiaries account for 23 percent of total costs. These patients often suffer from a range of chronic conditions and performing primary care at home both removes the stress of a hospital visit without shouldering the costs involved as well. In addition, primary care at home also supports preventative treatment plans. The HCCI has received a multimillion-dollar grant to offer home-based primary care training and its CEO, Dr. Thomas Cornwell, hopes the practice will eventually become a Medicare benefit, rather than a one-off treatment. Currently, the Independence at Home Demonstration from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is testing the use of primary care for seniors at home to evaluate the benefits for patients with multiple chronic conditions.