Month: July 2017

Obtaining Approval for Home Visits

Posted on by VettersEnt

While doctors aren’t known for making house calls anymore, there are major advantages to making home visits for primary care. If you are considering making the move from in-office care to home care, the transition might be easier than you think.  

Why is Home Care Needed?

Home health care is still in demand today, despite the model of a doctor visiting the homes of well patients for check-ups and annual physicals seeming antiquated. There is a huge demand for home health care today because:

  • Many adults avoid seeking medical treatment for themselves because they work during traditional doctor’s office hours and cannot take leave for a wellness visit.
  • Some areas of the country don’t have many doctor’s offices, so patients can live in areas without access to regular primary care doctors outside of emergency rooms and urgent care clinics

Getting Started with Home Visits

Insurance companies offer a small degree of flexibility when it comes to primary care doctors visiting patients in their home, but you need to fill out all of the proper paperwork. It is relatively easy to be approved for home healthcare when working with homebound or recovering patients.

Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B will cover in-home healthcare that falls under intermittent skilled nursing care, physical therapy, speech-language pathology services or continued occupational services. The most important variable when justifying home health visits to insurance companies and Medicare is the inability of the patient to access regular medical practices. Apply for approval by contacting individual insurance agencies. Always explain to patients that approval for home healthcare services can depend on whether or not the need can be justified.

Vetters Practice Management Consulting

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, revenue cycle optimization, and private practice business support. We can perform detailed assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.

In-Home Doctors: Are They Still Around?

Posted on by VettersEnt

Historically, doctors would make house calls to visit sick patients and elderly patients, in addition to those just needing a check-up unable to trek into the city to get the job done. While these primary care doctors that perform home visits are certainly a dying breed, what are the potential strengths of this model?

Patients Get Care When They Need It

Many people avoid seeking medical treatment because of transportation and timing issues. If the doctor’s office is open from 9:00 AM-5:00 PM and they work during that time and cannot take off, they might skip their annual physical for years. If the patient is a post-partum mother who needs primary care but cannot find a babysitter for the baby or a vehicle to drive to the doctor, important care steps might be missed. Primary care doctors who make home visits often provide care to needy patients when and where they need it.

Everything You Might Need

You might be surprised to learn that primary care doctors making home visits often carry with them everything that they might have in a traditional setting, from a stethoscope to a mobile X-ray machine. Healthcare at home has come a long way in a relatively short period of time, so today’s mobile doctor bag is deeper than ever.

What Is Happening to At-Home Healthcare?

At-home healthcare for non-sick or non-elderly people remains on the decline. Many people have moved from visiting their primary doctors to urgent care facilities when in need. While at-home primary healthcare is on the decline, there is still a great need for on-demand and annual care throughout the country, so there is a chance it might make a comeback.

Vetters Practice Management Consulting

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, revenue cycle optimization, and private practice business support. We can perform detailed assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.