Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Plus: Now might be the time to invest in a snappy new Web site

The American Academy of Home Care Physicians (AAHCP) is alive and well--and out to prove that medical house calls are making a comeback. But docs knocking on patients' doors need some extra support to make this trend worthwhile.

A recent survey of 7,000 primary care physicians in the New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas found that seven in 10 primary care physicians believe that medical house calls not only improve patient care, but also result in fewer emergency room visits and faster patient recuperation time, according to a recent press release from AAHCP.

What's responsible for the growing interest? Three factors, said C. Gresham Bayne, MD, immediate past president of the 700-member AAHCP. Those are: "an aging population, advances in portable medical technology, and dissatisfaction by many physicians with the cost and effectiveness of contemporary medical care."

Despite the growing interest in house calls, the actual frequency of visits remains low. According to the survey, only 1 percent of primary physicians in specialties such as family practice, general practice, internal medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics, palliative medicine and geriatric psychiatry presently conduct home visits with any regularity--that is, seeing 25 or more patients in their homes weekly.

While 79 percent say they currently are not conducting home medical visits during a typical week, 41 percent say they do make house calls from time to time, the release stated.

If physicians want to truly revitalize this trend, technological support will be critical to stay in touch with the hospital or practice and to keep track of patient information.
 
For example, the survey found that 25 percent of the physicians planned on purchasing communication technologies--PDAs, cell phones, pocket PCs--in the next one to two years.

The complete survey findings are available for purchase at www.housemdtoday.com. Tech-Savvy Patients Become More Informed

A growing number of people with chronic illnesses are going online to research their health problems, according to a recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. About 51 percent of people with a disability or chronic illness use the Internet, compared with 74 percent of the general population, according to the study. But once people with illnesses get online, they become more frequent users.

The report is online at www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/222/report_display.asp.