Friday, 23 March 2007
Independence Blue Cross Bringing Back the House Call
House calls by doctors are a thing of the past, right? Independence Blue Cross is bringing them back.
Under a pilot program, 500 Medicare patients in southeastern Pennsylvania will receive monthly visits from a physician. Their doctors will also be available 24 hours a day by cellphone.
Independence Blue Cross hopes that the visits will improve the overall health of the program members, and cut down on emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
“The way to look at this is, if we’re able to provide a continuum of care for patients so they wouldn’t get so ill and they could avoid the emergency room or hospitalization, that would have a definite impact on health care,” said Richard Snyder, the senior vice president for health services at Independence Blue Cross.
Similar programs are being tested in California and Florida, and have gotten positive reviews from patients and doctors. If the Pennsylvania program is successful, it could be expanded to cover all Medicare recipients throughout the southern Pennsylvania region.
Independence Blue Cross is the Philadelphia region’s largest health insurance company. They have over 3.5 million members.
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