Family Medicine Innovation Forum: HomeFree Medically-Supervised Homecare

This month’s innovation feature is HomeFree Medically Supervised Homecare, which took home third place for both the Judges’ and People’s Choice categories at the Family Medicine Innovation Forum (FMIF). Read up on the pioneering innovation by Medical Director and co-founder, Dr. Charles Wong, and learn more about it during the Innovation Showcase of the 2026 Family Medicine Summit. 

Innovation Pitch: 

HomeFree Homecare’s novel “medically-supervised homecare” program provides facility-level care in the home, keeping seniors and their families thriving at home for life, and reducing strain on our system. 

Problem Being Addressed:

One of our system’s most pressing and paradoxical issues is the backlog of patients waiting in-hospital for placement to facilities that they don’t want to go to. Many of these patients do not require hospital-based care and could be served at home. However, current homecare services fail in two major ways: 1) they do not efficiently administer activities of daily living (ADL) supports (e.g., patients are often admitted to acute care beds due to simple ADL needs like toileting) and 2) they artificially silo homecare away from physician services (e.g., patients are admitted with only the slightest need for physician involvement). 

How It Works:

First, we operationalized a staffing model that provides living wages, proper training, and professional agency to in-home providers, providing care not just where, but also when and how patients need it. We treat onboarding similar to hospital admissions, to fully understand patient needs. 

Secondly, we provide physician support and oversight to the homecare such that patient-types traditionally assumed to require facilities (advanced dementia, Parkinson’s, MS, etc.) can actually be safely managed at home.

Lastly, we do so with a funding model that keeps overall out-of-pocket costs lower than their typical alternatives, including publicly-funded facilities (which also require a co-pay). 

What Kind of Support Are You Looking For:

Our greatest value to the system is in taking patients straight out of hospital. We wish to promote the service organically, such that patients and independent physicians can be made aware of this outpatient service and request or initiate it on their own. This is how we have been able to do this thus far. Endorsement from a professional body such as the ACFP or by other practitioners would
accomplish this and allow our service to grow.