Seniors who have difficulty leaving their homes or accessing traditional medical facilities have a new option for health care: mobile, medical home care visits from Horizon Care Services.
The company, headquartered in North Palm Beach, Florida, will offer primary care, podiatry, wound care, mental health and pain management services directly to patients’ homes.
Horizon Care Services is already a successful home care, care management and senior placement provider in Florida. The mobile visits will be conducted through a different company, but the idea for them came from struggles within Horizon’s home care service line.
“I was using five mobile physician practices,” Horizon Care Services CEO Andrea Albertini told Home Health Care News. “They don’t call you back. Medication is not delivered. Meanwhile, the patient is home with the caregiver. The caregiver has not heard back from the doctor, we have not heard back from the doctor. So, I decided to invest in a mobile physician practice.”
The new company will prioritize ongoing primary and specialty care, monitoring conditions, and addressing issues before they escalate. This ultimately reduces the need for emergency room visits or hospitalizations. By emphasizing proactive health care management, Horizon Care Services aims to enhance the quality of life for its patients while maximizing their independence.
It has already treated 30-35 patients in its first month operating.
“When a patient comes to us, we do everything,” Albertini told HHCN. “We ask, do you have a living will? Do you have a primary care physician? What other physicians do you see? We implement everything the patient needs to be at home with their caregivers.”
Albertini stressed that patients do not require a contract or a prior relationship with the company to access its mobile services. All it takes is one phone call to request a visit.
Horizon Care Services bills Medicare, but offers a private-pay option for added flexibility.
“We triage on the phone with our doctors and dispatch someone to the home if necessary,” she explained. “[Patients] can call in if they have a need, we will coordinate everything to have that delivered to their home. Most of the time, on the same day.”
Albertini said that one of the reasons clients choose Horizon is the continuity of care.
“Horizon Care Services is known for following up on everything,” she said. “If you are a doctor and you refer a patient, we will call the patient, make the arrangements and reply to let you know that the patient has an appointment and the outcome. I have had that level of customer service with Horizon for 20 years and want to continue doing that with the mobile services.”
As the home has become the preferential care setting for seniors, home-based care companies have tried to capitalize. Albertini’s expansion into home-based medical care is a good example of that.
Elsewhere, the Minnesota-based Lifespark recently just added an in-home urgent care service line.
The Boston-based companies Best of Care and HouseWorks have also added other non-medical service lines, like move management services and laundry services, respectively.
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