Medicare increases pay to promote house calls

In an effort to promote more house calls by physicians, Medicare has increased by nearly half its reimbursement rates for home visits to patients with multiple chronic conditions.

As of January, Medicare fees for a physician visit to an established patient will range from $45 to over $145. House call payments to new patients will range from $58 to $173 per visit.

These higher payment rates "are HCFA’s way to get more physicians back into the home care equations," which ought to reduce the instances of questionable home care billing practices by nonphysician providers, says Melvin Britton, MD, a member of the American Medical Association’s Relative Value Scale Update Committee.

During 1997, some 4 million Medicare patients received some form of home care. However, physicians only billed for 1.5 million home visits, representing a scant 0.2% of Medicare’s total 1996 physician service payments. At an average of six visits per year, internists make of the most house calls of all specialties, according to the American Academy of Home Care Physicians.