title: Needs for physician housecalls--views from health and social service providers.
abstract: This article examines how the role of a physician housecall program is perceived by health and social service providers that refer their clients to the program in a Midwest suburban community. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews with those providers revealed various housecall service needs of their homebound clients. In particular, the fact that home health agencies were the largest referral source suggests that the housecall program fills the needs that are not met by the current mainstream home health services. Our findings reinforce the argument for the increased physician involvement in home care and physician housecalls.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, 1603 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612-4394, USA. naoko@uic.edu
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Muramatsu
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cornwell
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002641:Chicago; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D017144:Focus Groups; D018574:Home Care Agencies; D018577:Homebound Persons; D006792:House Calls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010820:Physicians / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012947:Social Work