Innovative Patient Access to Home-Based Primary Care in Central Virginia

Home-based primary care (HBPC) is uniquely capable of meeting the health care needs of homebound older adults, many of whom experience diminished access to primary care. Research demonstrations of HBPC have often recruited patients based on prior acute care utilization or around the time of hospital discharge. To transform HPBC from a research demonstration to a routine means of accessing primary care, new methods of identifying and enrolling patients are needed. The Virginia at Home program has piloted a pragmatic and innovative approach to HBPC in Central Virginia with the goal of empowering local providers to refer any homebound patient in need of improved access to primary care. Using a public-facing referral tool, the Virginia at Home program aims to widen access to HBPC enrollment, while maintaining the unique benefits of HPBC for homebound people.