Doctors’ House Calls Saving Money For Medicare [KHN.org]

Looking for ways to save money and improve care, Medicare officials are returning to an old-fashioned idea: house calls.

But the experiment, called Independence at Home, is more than a nostalgic throwback to the way medicine was practiced decades ago when the doctor arrived at the patient’s door carrying a big black bag. Done right and paid right, house calls could prove to be a better way of treating very sick, elderly patients while they can still live at home.

“House calls go back to the origins of medicine, but in many ways I think this is the next generation,” said Dr. Patrick Conway, who heads the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, which oversees Independence at Home.    

[For more of this story, written by Susan Jaffe, go to http://khn.org/news/doctors-ho...-money-for-medicare/]