After nearly two and half years of reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 virus, last month, Housecall Providers saw clear evidence that all three in-home medical programs have recovered from the worst of the pandemic.

Primary care is once again serving 1,500 patients and our advanced illness care program (community-based palliative care) and hospice have each surpassed pre-pandemic census numbers. “Now that the
pandemic is better controlled, more patients are seeking care in clinics and hospitals,” says CEO Rebecca Ramsay. “These are the interactions that generally drive referrals for the care we provide to seriously ill and homebound individuals across the metro area.”

Housecall Providers also launched significant initiatives during the past two years that support the return to higher numbers of patients. We hired our first-ever behavioral health counselor to better support our primary care patients who have co-occurring behavioral health conditions. We also invested in practice management tools to streamline processes for the influx in new patients. 

In addition to these initiatives:

• Outreach staff started a community engagement workgroup to create and strengthen partnerships with other community-based nonprofits serving similar populations and marginalized communities.
• Part-time providers were hired in primary care and hospice to help onboard the surge of new patients into those two programs.
• Primary care hired its first-ever liaison, Rita Isaac, to support new patient intake efforts and to improve customer experience by helping to minimize wait times.
• Housecall Providers joined the community of practice for the Connect Oregon coordinated care network of health and social service providers and began using the associated UniteUs platform for interagency referrals and outcome tracking.
• Thankfully, Housecall Providers has not experienced the high turnover that many health care organizations have suffered. We rely on our highly knowledgeable, multidisciplinary employees
  who work in the community and in the office to ensure patients and families are getting their needs met.

“Staff persevered through some extremely challenging years and worked tirelessly because they knew the health and well-being of so many was at stake,” says Rebecca. “Their determination and continued commitment, during what has undoubtedly been the most challenging time in their professional careers, makes this recovery that much more special.”

Across the country and in our own community, patients and families have suffered greatly over the past two years, says Rebecca.

“We know that patients haven’t been getting all the care they need during this pandemic due to fears related to COVID-19. Housecall Providers is thrilled to once again be able to offer our expert in-home medical care to a growing number of patients.