A small number of doctors are using the old practice of house calls in a new way. Doctors from one San Diego-based house call service makes 900 visits a month to the sickest elderly.
Technology helps the doctor make their house calls.
House calls faded from the health care system 30 years ago when Medicare slashed fees for home visits. Managed care doesn't have enough clear-cut data on savings from house calls to promote them. There will be more demand for house calls as the population ages. An estimated 2 million senior citizens were physically unable to leave their homes in 1999. They sometimes get sicker in the hospital and their health care becomes even more expensive.