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2008 House Call Clinician of the Year Awards

This year, the Academy awarded two members our highest honor. For the second year in a row, the awards were presented in association with the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative, a research and educational program committed to the study and enhancement of the patient-physician relationship in the U.S. and around the world.

Robin A. Beck, MD Selected as Eric Baron House Call Doctor of the Year
Dr. Beck joined the faculty at Indiana University School of Medicine in June 1999. Just two months later, she started the House Calls for Seniors program, which is the only health system-sponsored house call program in Indiana. For the first five years of the program, she was the only physician routinely performing home visits. Under Dr. Beck's leadership, the program has expanded to include one other physician, two nurse practitioners, two social workers, a triage nurse and patient services assistant. The house call program serves mostly a low income, inner city population. Dr. Beck also trains medical students, internal medicine residents and geriatric medicine fellows and gives lectures on house call medicine.

Dr. Beck is praised by both colleagues and patients alike, who say that she exemplifies spirit, skill, dedication and commitment to her patients and the House Calls team. Her patient satisfaction ratings are among the highest in her practice. The House Calls for Seniors program at Wishard Health Services was recently selected as the winner of the Indianapolis Business Journal Health Care Heroes Award in the category of Community Achievement in Health Care.

Ancy Zacharia, RN, MSN, GNP Awarded House Call Clinician of the Year
Ms. Zacharia received her Geriatric Nurse Practitioner degree at Rush University Medical Center in 1999. While earning her degree, she was honored as the geriatric nurse of the year. She began her house call career with HomeCare Physicians in December 1999, and has made over 10,000 house calls. Ms. Zacharia's clinical skills are frequently recognized, but it is her bedside manner that is constantly praised by patients and families.

Equally notable is her advocacy work on behalf of house calls and their impact on the care of the frail elderly. She has served on her County's Elder Abuse and Neglect Multidisciplinary team for the past four years. She was also selected by the Illinois Nurses Association, representing 6,000 nurses, and the Chicago Geriatric Nurse Practitioner Association to represent them on the State of Illinois' Older Adult Services Advisory Committee.