John and Laura Hart are bringing the old-fashioned style of medicine back with their house call-based medical practice.

Murfreesboro-based Prorenata Health Inc. specializes in the care of homebound senior citizens who are unable to see a physician regularly.

“We are basically a family practice on wheels,” explained John Hart, president of Prorenata Health. 

Prorenata’s mission is to keep senior citizens healthy and living in their homes as long as possible by providing the medical care they need in their home.

John Hart said many homebound seniors will go without seeing a doctor for decades because they don’t want to leave their homes and wait in a doctor’s office.

His mother was the inspiration for the business, he said. Living in Florida, she refused to go see a physician for 25 years, not wanting to arrange for the transportation to the doctor and other transportation to get lab work or other tests done.

John said his mother’s death could have been prevented if she would have received medical care early. 

“It is something that is in need — long overdue,” he said of a house call medical practice. 

According to the American Academy of Home Care Physicians, by 2020 there will be an estimated two million elderly who are chronically homebound due to functional impairment.

“It is a truly out of the box concept,” Melissa Warren, president of Family Staffing Solutions of Rutherford County, said of Prorenata Health. “I think it does have its place in Murfreesboro.”

Family Staffing Solutions provides personal care and in-home assistance to seniors.

Warren said she has shared Prorenata Health’s brochures with clients.

Linda Burt, executive director of the St. Clair Street Senior Center, said she can’t endorse Prorenata Health but she does see that many senior citizens in the community could benefit from the service.

Through Prorenata Health, Laura Hart, a nurse practitioner, can provide most of the medical services in a patient’s home or assisted living facility that they would receive in a doctor’s office. She can prescribe medications, perform and order diagnostic tests, treat chronic illnesses and manage patients’ overall care.

Dr. Frank Perry, an Internal Medicine Board-certified physician, at River Park Hospital in McMinnville is Hart’s collaborating physician who reviews her patients’ records and is available for consultations.

Services include the treatment of common illnesses such as the flu, treatment of minor injuries, and the treatment of chronic problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes and arthritis. Prorenata also can make referrals to specialists or home health care.

The practice also can arrange for the home delivery of medications from Reeves-Sain Pharmacy and for such tests as ultrasounds, X-rays and electrocardiograms to be performed in the home.

Prorenata Health will accept self-referrals and referrals from other physicians, assisted living centers and sitter services.

Laura Hart said she loves being able to see patients in their home.

“I can schedule the amount of time I need with a patient,” she said. An initial visit is always scheduled for one hour.

Prorenata Health accepts Medicare assignment and will bill Medicare, many Medicare Advantage policies and Medical supplemental policies for services provided in the home or assisted living facility.

Erin Edgemon can be reached at 869-0812 and at eedgemon@murfreesboropost.com.

Prorenata Health Inc.

615-896-9389