[NRSKarenRN]

found at PND NEWS BRIEFS - PHILADELPHIA METRO EDITION
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A daily round-up of local medical news
August 17, 2005


THE NUMBER OF HOUSE CALLS MADE BY DOCTORS AND NURSES IN
THE UNITED STATES INCREASED FROM 1.5 MILLION IN 2000 TO
MORE THAN 2 MILLION LAST YEAR, ACCORDING TO THE
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF HOME CARE PHYSICIANS.

The number of house-call doctors began climbing after
1998, when years of negotiations between Medicare and
home health advocates ended with the federal government
raising reimbursement rates by 50 percent. With
physicians and patients increasingly frustrated by the
system -- particularly primary-care doctors, whose
profit margins and time with patients are being
squeezed ever tighter -- more doctors are dropping out
of insurance networks in general and are incorporating
house calls as part of an annual fee paid by patients.
Washington Post, August 17, 2005
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...601683_pf.html