Optum HouseCalls visits can improve outcomes: Delores’s story

DYAN: I'm Dyan. I'm a nurse practitioner with the HouseCalls program. Delores is an amazing person.

DYAN: Delores, hi.

DELORES: How are you doing?

DYAN: It’s so good to see you again.

She's a volunteer for multiple organizations, and she does tons of traveling and is very active with her family.

DYAN: Do you remember what they said this one's for?

DYAN: What we did when we sat down for the house call is go through all of her health information, her medication, surgical history. And when I went to do the physical exam and listened to Delores' heart, I discovered that she had a significant heart murmur. And without alarming her, I asked her if she was aware that she had a heart murmur, and she had no idea. She had never heard that before.

DYAN: Can you hear it?

DELORES: Mm-hmm.

DYAN: It's interesting, right?

DELORES: Yeah.

DELORES: She said, you have to call the doctor. And I go, okay, I'll call her tomorrow, you know, as soon as I can. And she goes, no, no, no. No, no, no, you're calling right now, and made me call right that minute, which the doctors say possibly could have saved my life.

DYAN: If Delores hadn't been diagnosed with a heart murmur and hadn't got the follow-up, the situation could have been very bad. She could have died. I love the fact that she gets to live a longer life. Everyone deserves that chance.

DELORES: I like to do yoga. I love to exercise. I like to walk with my friends. It's just fun keeping each other going.

DYAN: She's just a really incredible person. It's such an amazing feeling to know that we can make a difference in someone's life and literally save somebody's life.