A Home-Based Primary Care Program

Home-Based Primary Care is Now an Option

One of the most important things we can do here at My New Usual is share patient resources with you. We are always on the lookout for new information that can help assist with your experience in a positive way. Here’s more about the Home Centered Care Institute.

Home-based primary care is what you would consider a “house call” from days gone by. The Home Centered Care Institute is training professionals to combine the quality of care that you get at a healthcare clinic or doctor’s office with “the convenience and comfort of home.” Dr. Thomas Cornwell founded the institute in 2012 to focus on advancing home-based primary care.  Their goal is to ensure that homebound and medically complex patients have access to the best care from the comfort of their home.

Emergency visits get expensive, from the ambulance ride to the hospital stays, and they are so tough on the patient. Medicare or Medicaid often has to pick up the bill. Home-based care can save insurers up to $1000 per beneficiary annually, based on a recent study by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid’s Innovation Center.

HCCI works to grow the home-based primary care workforce through education and training. Last fall, they launched a nationwide network for home-based primary care education. The first to join are eight prestigious medical institutions, including the Cleveland Clinic, Northwestern University’s Feinburg School of Medicine and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. See the full list here.

This type of care service can help ease the strain on caregivers. This responsibility is often unexpected, and with little to no training (right?). Caregivers also experience their own financial strain, anxiety and depression. HBPC also offers a way to remain engaged and informed for those loved ones who are far away from the patient.

For the more than 2 million people who are homebound patients, this is a fantastic resource. For those health care professionals who are interested, extensive training is available. We urge you to find out more at the HCCI’s website.

It could be just what the doctor ordered.