Are house calls making a comeback?
In the age of telemedicine, house calls remain a vital part of primary care—and are in fact on the rise. Indira Subramanian reports House calls might seem to be a relic of the past, but they are thriving in an age where virtual care is a buzzword. Medicaid data show that spending on home and community based services increased from 1% of total Medicaid expenditure on long term services and supports in 1983 to 65% in 2022.1 In 2022, the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published data showing that house calls saved Medicare $8222 per beneficiary, compared with spending targets, in 2021.2 The growth of home based care coincides with the “massive deterioration of what doctors are able to do in clinics,” says Sachin Jain, president and chief executive officer of SCAN Group and Health Plan, a healthcare intermediary. He says that the growth of Medicare Advantage plans—private health coverage offered by intermediaries like Jain’s that have contracts with the Medicare programme—has
