Pete Carlson, Lifespark VP, Acute Response Services, shared his thoughts on why house calls for seniors are often easier, cheaper, and more convenient in a recent article published in the MinnPost.
“It’s one of the best healthcare lessons — and public policy changes — that came out of COVID: Many Minnesota seniors are now being treated at home instead of the hospital emergency room,” said Pete.
During the pandemic, local health systems such as North Memorial worked with senior care providers like us to keep Minnesotans with non-COVID medical issues out of the emergency room whenever in-home treatment was safe and responsible. The idea was to spare the elderly from unnecessary exposure to contagious viruses and emergency room chaos.
The hospital diversion programs worked so well during lockdown that healthcare providers are expanding in-home care for the post-COVID era. It’s not quite a return to the era of doctors making house calls, but Minnesota now has roving teams of nurses and paramedics to treat seniors in their living rooms instead of emergency rooms.
