Interest in medical house calls and hospital-at-home programs surged during the COVID19 pandemic of the past year. Unsurprisingly, hospitals, which needed to make room for, and protect vulnerable patients, sent many of their patients home with EKGs, IVs, patient monitors, and other medical devices. While the explosion in demand arose from great need, it offered us a glimpse of the future. And, now major hospital systems, healthcare providers, and others are convinced that medical care will increasingly move away from the hospital room and into your living room.
Hospital-level, in-home medical care, which includes remote care via the Internet and telehealth, is expected to grow over the next decade. The growth was accelerated by the Covid19 pandemic when hospitals began to promote it as a means to ease overcrowding, and insurers were enticed by home care’s ability to lessen healthcare spending.
Now, the big money players want in. Sending a strong signal that the concept of home-based medical care is picking up steam, Kaiser Permanente and the Mayo Clinic announced plans last month to collectively invest $100 million into Medically Home, a Boston-based company that provides scalable home-based medical services.
Both organizations estimate that 30% of patients currently admitted to hospitals nationally have conditions eligible for in-home care, according to Kaiser Health News.
Several other well-known hospital systems, such as Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Presbyterian Healthcare Services in New Mexico, and Massachusetts General Hospital, have also launched their own hospital-to-home programs.
Hastening the rise of home care, Medicare agreed in November 2020 to pay for home-based care for patients being treated by approved hospitals.
Did you know that ALL patients with Medicare Part B are covered for medical home visits from physicians? Learn more about your options here: https://getclare.com/deciding-on-your-medicare-future-traditional-vs-advantage/
The growth of home-based medical care is great news because it makes medical care more accessible to all, especially the homebound, which will improve patient outcomes. Various studies show that in-home medical care is just as safe and may even produce better outcomes than being in a hospital. Not only is it safe and effective, but home-based care saves us all a great deal of money by limiting the need to expand hospitals, reducing hospital readmissions, and helping patients avoid nursing homestays. In fact, estimates of healthcare costs for home-based care project 30% savings over traditional hospital care.
Seniors and the Homebound
For the home-bound and the elderly, home care is not only the best option, but sometimes it is the only one.
There is a good reason why seniors increasingly sought home-based treatment and care in the years leading up to Covid19. Prior to the pandemic, seniors who didn’t go to a doctor’s office often ended up in the ER. Smaller, less urgent or even minor issues ballooned into Emergency Room visits or hospital stays that could have been avoided with proactive, preventative care.
These unnecessary or preventable hospital admissions put undue strain on the healthcare system all along, but during covid, it became especially obvious and burdensome, prompting a desire for better solutions.
Nursing homes and Assisted Living Also Benefit from Home Care
A trip to the hospital is not only costly; it needlessly exposes elderly patients to the virus as well as other bacterial infections that are commonly contracted in hospitals. Nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and all independent living communities can provide immense reassurance and peace of mind to their residents’ families by partnering with a partner of proactive, preventative, and rehabilitative care.
In addition, home care agencies are often ill-equipped to provide medical care for the elderly. Home care agencies can provide their patients with security and peace of mind if they can guarantee a house call from a physician is only one call or text message away. Home-based medical care allows for a more pleasant healthcare experience and makes healthcare more accessible to more people.
Clare Medical of New Jersey provides quality, proactive, comprehensive care to seniors all across New Jersey. Our providers are able to visit you in your private home or assisted living facility. As part of our proactive care approach, Clare Medical developed and utilizes a diagnostic tool powered by artificial intelligence technology that is able to accurately predict which patients are at a 30-day increased risk of requiring a hospital or emergency room visit. Clinical trials have demonstrated that our proprietary technology reduced hospitalizations of patients with multiple chronic conditions by over 50%.
It might have taken a pandemic to make the need for home-based medical care starkly clear. As interest in home-based medical care grows, more and more patients will start to receive care at home.
Clare Medical of New Jersey is Here For You
At Clare Medical, we understand the obstacles, which can prevent you from receiving the proper care. We want to make the process as easy and comfortable for you as possible. Our licensed healthcare providers will come to your home or assisted living facility to provide you or your residents with proactive, comprehensive medical care. Seniors deserve exceptional care, especially during these difficult times, and we want to make sure that you get the exact care you need to stay safe and healthy.
Call us today at 609-474-0120 to discuss how we can support you with managing your wellness!