Back to the Future--You Can Still Get Your Medical Care at Home
If your memory can stretch back 50 years or so you might remember seeing a well dressed man carrying a black bag approach your or your neighbor's front door. No, it wasn't an IRS auditor or an insurance salesman, or even someone running for city council. It was the doctor.
Back in those days physicians would often visit patient's homes to render care. Most everyone thought it was good idea, but this convenience seemed to vanish as doctors became increasingly inundated with patients during the baby boom.
There wouldn't be much to this story on house calls and medical services in the home if it were not for an organization known as Family Home Care and Hospice (FHCH) of Spokane, WA. A home health agency, FHCH serves patients in Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington State. The company has launched a new service offering primary medical care in patients' homes. The new service, aptly named "House Calls", will offer a wide range of primary care services including diagnosing medical conditions, check-ups, drawing blood, prescribing medications and monitoring of medications. House Calls patients may continue to receive their on-going and follow up care from the House Calls medical professional or their care can be coordinated with or referred back to their regular physician.
FHCH providers are Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNP) who have been specially trained and licensed to provide in-home medical services. The ARNP staff at FHC prefers to visit a patient in their home rather than in a clinic or hospital setting.
"It gives us an opportunity to spend much more time with each patient," explained Carol Charles, ARNP. "We get to know them on a much more personal level and can observe the environment in which they live. Many times those observations give us a greater advantage in prescribing effective treatments than if we were seeing the patient in a clinic."
While the new House Calls service is ideal for bed ridden or home bound people, it is not meant only for them. Anyone who would prefer to receive their primary care medical services at home can make use of the service.
"The majority of our patients are elderly." explained Alicia Bowman, FHCH's coordinator for primary care services. "They certainly have the need, but there are also quite a number of younger patients. This is not a service only for the elderly."
In FHCH's primary market area, as in many communities across the country, there are no services which provide primary medical care on an in-home basis. This means that, without the House Calls service, many patients will not see a medical professional until their condition becomes serious enough that emergency treatment is needed. Even in the best cases, home-bound patients often postpone their medical care long enough that their conditions have worsened. The availability of quality in-home medical care is essential to the continued health of these patients.
While the Spokane area has demonstrated a significant demand for a House Calls style service, increasing elderly populations in communities all across the country means that this style of primary care medical service will be needed in most areas.
"Home health agencies like Family Home Care and Hospice are in a perfect position to offer this valuable and necessary service to their communities," noted Michael Nowling, President of Family Home Care and Hospice. "I believe this service trend, if adopted by enough home health agencies throughout the country, will be a huge benefit to our aging population and will also relieve some of the burden on our hospital emergency rooms and staff."
The largest privately owned home health agency in it's market area, Family Home Care and Hospice has been seeing patients in the Inland Northwest for more than 40 years. Family Home Care and Hospice has been honored by Medicare as one of the top 1 percent of home health agencies in Washington State. They have also been recognized as being among the top five percent of home health agencies in the nation.
Michael Nowling is the President of FHCH, a home health agency in the the area area, WA. The largest privately owned home health agency in the the area area, FHCH has been serving the inland Northwest for more than 40 years.
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