Home Care Physicians Promise 5% in Savings

Most of the savings are expected to come from keeping these chronically ill patients out of the emergency room and the hospital. Better management of their multiple conditions means that they are less likely to become acutely ill or if they do, a home-care physician can often provide urgent care services in the home. Also, by having more medical support in the home, patients can often be released from the hospital a day or two earlier than they otherwise would be.

“We are taking a system that discriminates against the costliest patients, managed care doesn't want them, most physicians don't want them, nobody wants these people because they're train wrecks. We take those people and we make them the most desirable people in the system,” said Mr. Pyles, who also serves on the AAHCP board of directors.