House Calls to Frail Elders Reduce Costs, Hospital Use, and Nursing Home Placements

Washington Hospital Center is a 900-bed nonprofit teaching hospital in Washington, DC, and is part of MedStar Health, a large nonprofit health system serving the Baltimore and Washington metropolitan areas. The hospital is located in an urban setting where the vast majority of frail elders are covered by Medicare; approximately 40 percent are also covered by Medicaid. The Medical House Call program was founded in 1999 by two Washington Hospital Center geriatricians, Dr. Eric De Jonge and Dr. George Taler, who decided to create a patient-centered elder care model that coordinated all needed medical and social services to the population that was most poorly served by the current healthcare system.

“The Medical House Call program includes teams of geriatricians, nurse practitioners, and social workers who make house calls to frail elders.”

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