Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center - VCU House Calls

What is it?

Since 1984, VCU House Calls has been providing longitudinal primary care medical home visits, both scheduled and urgent, for patients too ill or disabled to get to a doctor’s office. House Calls’ clinical staff members make home visits every weekday.

Who is it for?

Medicare beneficiaries who have decreased mobility and high illness burden, and who cannot travel to a clinic without great effort.

Why do they do it?

House calls create timely access and allow providers to gain a better understanding of the care environment as well as patients’ needs and goals.

Impact

As part of CMS’s Independence at Home demonstration, which the VCU House Calls team helped design and develop, the team met all quality measures, had very high patient satisfaction, and reduced total Medicare costs in a group of seriously ill people by 20 percent. The demo reported year-one savings of $25 million from about 5,600 cases at 17 sites. The demonstration is now in a two-year extension through 2017.

Contact: Carissa Etters
Assistant Director, Public Affairs, VCU Health
Telephone: 804-828-7823
Email: cdetters@vcu.edu