Illinois House Call Project

Illinois has an urgent, growing need for home-based primary care. The state is home to 2.1 million older adults, with more than 52% being 75-plus years of age and older. Additionally, more than 700,000 have ambulatory challenges and approximately 260,000 are homebound. To address this need, HCCI launched a new program in 2022 called the Illinois House Call Project (ILHCP) and based on the program’s success, HCCI launched a second cohort in mid-2024.

Through this learning collaborative, practices and providers learn to establish or expand an HBPC program, ensure quality care, and support, grow, and sustain the program over time. They also learn how to transition from a fee-for-service to a value-based payer model. The goal of the project is to increase the number of patients receiving HBPC in the areas served by the practices and providers, identify regional gaps in access, and support the expansion of service areas to close those gaps. Participants learn as a cohort and range from house call programs in large academic medical centers to small or solo practices.

This project is critical following the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) 2022 announcement that all Medicare beneficiaries should be participating in an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) by 2030. ACO’s offer Medicare beneficiaries better care by incentivizing providers and local hospitals to provide coordinated care, reducing fragmented treatment between providers, avoiding duplicated services, and preventing medical errors. Since most HBPC patients are Medicare beneficiaries who are the highest need, highest cost patients, it is essential for providers and practices to learn the HBPC model of care.

Collectively, the first cohort of practices has added more than 2,700 new HBPC patients to the 10,000 that already existed in this region. HCCI expects more than 3,000 to be enrolled by the end of 2024. Cohort 2 will launch this spring and is projected to serve another 3,000 new patients by the end of 2026. Activities include in-person workshops, a 9-week virtual self-paced learning module, and assigned on-demand courses from HCCI’s online library. It also provides participants with a comprehensive practice assessment which identifies program gaps and opportunities.