TY - JOUR A1 - Patil, Vinit A1 - Mubarak, K A1 - Ebn Mohammed Abdulla, P A1 - James, Jeslin A1 - Ahmed, Junaid A1 - Rafeeque, P A1 - M, Siraj M T1 - The surge of house calls: How COVID-19 pandemic is changing health care Y1 - 2020/7/1 JF - Indian Journal of Drugs in Dermatology JO - Indian J Drugs Dermatol SP - 49 EP - 52 VL - 6 IS - 1 UR - https://www.ijdd.in/article.asp?issn=2455-3972;year=2020;volume=6;issue=1;spage=49;epage=52;aulast=Patil DO - 10.4103/ijmo.ijmo_18_21 N2 - Elderly, homebound individuals comprise a vulnerable segment of society who have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic through a myriad of unique challenges. Home-based primary care or house calls improve the lives of high-cost, frail, homebound patients and their caregivers while reducing costs by keeping patients at home and reducing the use of hospitals and nursing homes. Several forces are behind the resurgence of HBPC, including the rapidly aging population, advancements in portable medical technology, evidence showing the value of house calls, and improved payments for house calls. There are 2 million to 4 million patients who could benefit from house calls, but only few are receiving it. The number of these patients is expected to double over the next two decades and there has been a surge during the COVID-19 pandemic. This requires a larger and better prepared workforce in India. Medical education curricula are necessary for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying medicine to sufficiently develop a future workforce capable of appropriately providing house calls to an increasing number of elderly patients. ER -