In-home primary care in Maplewood
Some people in Maplewood get by without a car, and that works for groceries and errands along Manchester Road. Medical follow-up is different. A bus or train ride with a cane, an oxygen tank or a swollen leg is a hard trip, and an upstairs apartment adds a staircase at each end. Gateway arranges in-home primary care follow-up with partner clinicians who review medications and keep watch on long-term conditions. The clinician sets the plan, and we handle scheduling, records and communication.
Housing in Maplewood is older and set close together: brick bungalows, frame houses, two-family flats and apartments over storefronts, many with a flight of stairs between the sidewalk and the front door. Senior apartments, assisted living and skilled nursing care are found in and around the neighboring Mid County suburbs. Gateway arranges visits from partner clinicians in each kind of setting. For walk-up apartments and flats, we note the entrance, the buzzer and where to park, so the clinician reaches the right door.
This page is part of Gateway's guide to primary care in St. Louis, which covers house calls, wellness visits and chronic care across the region.
What in-home primary care includes
Most in-home primary care follow-up centers on long-term conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart failure, lung disease and kidney disease. At a visit, the treating clinician checks your vital signs, asks what has changed since last time, looks at any readings you keep at home and decides whether the plan needs adjusting.
The same visit can take in a review of your medications, follow-up after a hospital stay, a yearly wellness visit, or orders for tests and specialist appointments. People living with two or more ongoing conditions can also ask about chronic care management, which adds check-ins and care planning between visits. Gateway arranges the visit and keeps track of what the clinician orders afterward.
People who benefit most
Not everyone who calls us has a doctor. Some adults in Maplewood lost theirs when a practice closed or a physician retired. Others have been in and out of hospitals and rehab and have not had a regular visit in a long time, so nobody is watching the whole picture or renewing prescriptions on schedule. Gateway can help connect you with a partner practice that makes home visits. The page on finding a primary care clinician explains how.
Home visits are also arranged for people who have a doctor but cannot get to the office, including adults with limited mobility, people healing from a wound or an operation, and assisted living residents.
Why wound care and primary care go together
Swollen legs make wounds slower to heal and skin easier to break. The swelling usually has a cause somewhere else in the body, such as the heart, the kidneys, the veins or a medication. Finding that cause and managing it belongs to primary care and, at times, a specialist. Wrapping the leg and caring for the skin belongs to the wound care team.
The two depend on each other. A wound care clinician who sees a leg at every visit may be the first to notice that swelling is worse or shoes have become tight. Gateway passes that observation to the primary care clinician, who decides whether anything in the medical plan should change.
Where visits take place
Skilled nursing works differently from the other places where Gateway arranges primary care follow-up. Every resident already has an attending physician who is responsible for medical care, and facility nurses carry out the orders. We do not replace that team. In facilities in Maplewood, we coordinate with the attending and the nursing staff, and we plan follow-up for the day a resident leaves. See primary care follow-up in skilled nursing.
After discharge, a partner clinician can visit at the next address, whether that is a private home, an apartment, assisted living or memory care.
Working with your existing doctors
Home health and primary care are different jobs that depend on each other. A home health agency sends nurses and therapists, and they work from a clinician’s signed orders. The primary care clinician writes and updates those orders and decides what to do when the nurse reports a change. Without a clinician they can reach, home health staff are left waiting for answers. When Gateway coordinates primary care for someone who has home health, we tell the agency which practice is responsible, where to send reports and whom to call with a concern.
How to arrange a visit
Here is what follows a call to 314-325-0126. First, we confirm whether a partner clinician is available for your address in Maplewood and for your type of residence. Next, with your permission, we request records from your doctor’s office or the hospital you were in, so the clinician arrives informed. Then we schedule the visit. After the visit, we follow through on what the clinician ordered, whether that is lab work, equipment or a referral, and keep the people you choose up to date.
- County: St. Louis County, Missouri
- ZIP codes: 63143
- Nearby hospitals: SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond Heights; Barnes-Jewish Hospital (not affiliated with Gateway)
- Nearby communities: Richmond Heights, Brentwood, Shrewsbury, Webster Groves, South St. Louis
- Care settings: Private homes, skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care and rehabilitation
Coverage questions
Before a first home visit, a call to the member number on your insurance card can answer most cost questions. Useful things to ask:
- Does this practice participate in my plan?
- Do I need a referral or prior authorization for visits at home?
- What would I owe for a visit?
- Are lab work, imaging and medical equipment handled differently?
Write down the date, the name of the person you spoke with and what they said. Gateway can give you the name of the treating practice to use for that call.
Common questions
Will Medicare or my insurance pay for primary care at home in Maplewood?
We cannot answer that in general, because it depends on the treating practice, your specific plan and the care you need. When you call, ask which practice would see you. Then call the number on your Medicare or insurance card and ask whether that practice participates in your plan and what you would owe for a visit at home.
How often will a primary care clinician visit me in Maplewood?
The treating clinician sets the schedule after seeing you, and it changes with your health. Someone just out of the hospital, or with a condition that is not yet stable, is usually seen more often than someone who is steady. Gateway cannot promise a set number of visits or a set interval in advance. Ask at the first visit when the next one should be.
Is a video visit an option for primary care in Maplewood?
It can be, for some needs. A video or phone visit may work for going over test results, checking on a medication change or talking through a plan. It cannot replace an exam when the clinician needs to listen to your heart and lungs or look at your legs. The treating practice decides when telehealth is suitable. See telehealth primary care visits.
Can my spouse and I both be seen during one home visit in Maplewood?
You can ask for that. Each of you is a separate patient, with your own records, your own coverage questions and your own visit. When one partner practice can see both people, we try to line the visits up back to back so the household has one appointment time. Whether that works depends on clinician availability, so we confirm it when scheduling.
Do I need a referral for primary care at home in Maplewood?
No referral is needed to call Gateway. Patients, family members and caregivers can contact us directly, and so can hospitals, facilities and physician offices. Your health plan is a separate matter. Some plans ask for a referral or an authorization before certain services, and that depends on the plan and the treating practice. We go over what to check before a visit is scheduled.
Related pages
General information to help you talk with your own clinician. It is not medical advice, and the treating clinician makes every clinical decision. For a medical emergency, call 911.