CareWell Makes In-Home Care Convenient

The days of doctors making house calls seems like a distant memory or something only seen on reruns of old television programs. But Phoenix Home Care and Hospice is bringing that once popular method of health care back with CareWell, a program that works with a patient’s insurance or Medicare. 

 “CareWell was born because we identified a gap in care,” said Tara Bielinski, VP of strategic initiatives and population health with Phoenix Home Care and Hospice. Bielinski’s mother was undergoing cancer treatments in the midst of the pandemic. When Bielinski realized her mother was fearful and tempted to skip doctors’ visits, inspiration struck to create CareWell, because even without a pandemic, patients delay in-office visits for a variety of reasons. Bielinski dubbed the program “doc in a bag”.

“We are able to bring a doctor or a nurse practitioner directly into a patient’s home.” Bielinski said the benefit of having a practitioner provide in home visits are numerous. “You have someone that can assess the client’s psychosocial needs, like depression, in their home setting and they can also look at the environment to assess things like fall risk. They really spend an hour of quality time communicating with the patient and uncovering what needs there are.”

In addition to physical and mental health assessments, CareWell has a mobile x-ray unit and a mobile lab unit so that these procedures can also be carried out in the patient’s home setting. 

“Really, anything that you would typically get in an urgent care setting or a physician's clinic is brought to you, back into your home setting,” said Bielinski. CareWell has no monthly fee, is a Medicare entitled benefit, and is also in network with some insurance plans. 

If a patient typically pays a copay at the physician's clinic, that same copay would be paid to Phoenix. Bielinski said the only real difference is “the physician's office is your home”. 

“Many people want to use our nurse practitioner and still go to their primary care physician or cardiologist, or any specialist.” CareWell is designed to help patients with preventative measures and can be used in coordination with or in place of a primary care physician. CareWell practitioners work closely with any specialists a patient may require. 

“It’s just nice to have the option of being observed in the comfort of your own home,” said Bielinski. “It’s a great way to get the all-around best care possible.”

Phoenix Home Care & Hospice
Street Address:
1839 E Independence St Suite K, 
 Springfield, MO 65804
Phone: 417-881-7442
Website: www.phoenixhomehc.com
Top Executive: Phil Melugin, President/CEO
Year founded: 2011
Number of employees: 3,400

Product: Acute Skilled Nursing through Home Health Service; Private Duty Nursing to children and young adults with specialized health care needs; Private Duty Care such as nursing, nurse-aide or companion level assistance with activities of daily living from a few hours a day to around-the-clock care; state funded in-home services (homemaker chores, errands and shopping, personal care, education, medication setups and reminders); Department of Mental Health; Consumer Directed Services where Phoenix serves as a state vendor to provide administrative support services; Hospice Care (Hospice available in specific regions only); Chronic Care Management through Keep Well ACO; Comprehensive Disease Management; Phoenix Pharmacy