Doctors that make house calls

[Eric Karonen]

I got a flyer the other day. There's a new clinic in my neighbourhood where the doctors will visit you at home on short notice, and it's covered by our provincial medical insurance, ie, the Ontario Hospitalization Insurance Program.

I grew up with this practice, but I thought it was total history now.

Do they still visit you or your's in your area of the world?

[Mark Davis]

They used to in the 50's-60's in the USA but no longer.

We had a family Dr. we could just call and he would show up do whatever was needed and was on his way.

A few ywars before my time the family Dr would show up and for pay you could trade him a chicken some eggs or milk or whatever you had he needed and thats how it was.

[Brian blaut]

heh. they only have 10 minutes to spend per/patient. I don't think todays modern health care system has room for travel time. At least in the US.

We have to go to the store to buy our milk too.

[BritishBluesBoy]

They still do back home in England...

[jkingma]

The doctor won't visit me but once in a while Nurse Goodbody stops by.

[Eric Karonen]

Originally Posted by Mark Davis

They used to in the 50's-60's in the USA but no longer.

We had a family Dr. we could just call and he would show up do whatever was needed and was on his way.

A few ywars before my time the family Dr would show up and for pay you could trade him a chicken some eggs or milk or whatever you had he needed and thats how it was.

That's my era too, and it was commonplace to see the black bag, and bedside care from a physician ... way cheaper than emergency rooms and hospitals for a lot of things.

[Groovey Records]

Not since Dr Long my pediatrician and that was a long time ago

[mrmorrison]

There was this great doctor in California, Dr. Conrad Murray...oh wait, nevermind.

[Mark Davis]

Originally Posted by mrmorrison

There was this great doctor in California, Dr. Conrad Murray...oh wait, nevermind.

hahah ya dont ever tell him your having problems sleeping he will cure that and make you sleep forever.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Yup, we have one here, just outside Augusta. He only makes house calls, and he doesn't use insurance - just cash or checks. Works maybe a 25-mile radius.

Nice guy, good doctor. Makes a decent living, too, without the hassle of hospitals, insurance companies, or other toxic institutions.

[tele-rain]

Wow I thought this was truly something of the past, something I've never experienced in my lifetime. I'm glad to see it still exists, it's a testament to those who got into the medical field for the sole puprose of helping others, not just to get rich. Highly commendable in my book.

I could do without a housecall, but I would love it if doctors were more readily available when you are actually SICK. Every doctor I've ever had, with various insurance companies, was always the same story. You are sick, fever's not breaking, or some pain thats' not going away, even though you gave it a few days, so you call into the doc's office. And you hear "How does next Thursday sound?" Then you have to lay on the academy award dramatics to make them believe you're dying, just so they can squeeze you in that day (if you're lucky) or the next. And squeeze you in, is exactly what they do. They sandwich you in between other patients who've been there already an hour past their set appointments.

And then when you do make regular appointments, they have early office hours so I always have to take days off of work or sick days for an appointment. Plenty of times you need a follow up too.

Maybe I just have always had really crappy doctors, but that's how it's always been for me. I should research the house call doctor's thing, maybe they're around in my area and I don't know it, hmmmmmm.

[Eric Karonen]

Originally Posted by tele-rain

Wow I thought this was truly something of the past, something I've never experienced in my lifetime. I'm glad to see it still exists, it's a testament to those who got into the medical field for the sole puprose of helping others, not just to get rich. Highly commendable in my book.

I could do without a housecall, but I would love it if doctors were more readily available when you are actually SICK. Every doctor I've ever had, with various insurance companies, was always the same story. You are sick, fever's not breaking, or some pain thats' not going away, even though you gave it a few days, so you call into the doc's office. And you hear "How does next Thursday sound?" Then you have to lay on the academy award dramatics to make them believe you're dying, just so they can squeeze you in that day (if you're lucky) or the next. And squeeze you in, is exactly what they do. They sandwich you in between other patients who've been there already an hour past their set appointments.

And then when you do make regular appointments, they have early office hours so I always have to take days off of work or sick days for an appointment. Plenty of times you need a follow up too.

Maybe I just have always had really crappy doctors, but that's how it's always been for me. I should research the house call doctor's thing, maybe they're around in my area and I don't know it, hmmmmmm.

I think there's been so much negative publicity about the medical system everywhere here that some shrewd entrepreneurs have put a system in place, that's government funded. And ... I hope it works ... kinda like a 52 blackguard that you bought on ebay!

[RomanS]

They still do over here - actually, they are required to! And all free, of course!

[Fendrcaster]

I haven't heard of a doctor making house calls around here since I was a kid. My mother died at home three years ago. Her doctor's office was a mile away, the doctor wouldn't even come to sign the death certificate.

[BigDaddyLH]

My wife is a doctor and still makes some house calls, usually because the patients have trouble getting to the office: e.g. visits to nursing homes, and she had a semi-comatose patient for years. But for a busy doctor, house calls are simply too inefficient. If they were routine she would end up seeing many fewer patients in a day. And right now she's swamped with swine flu cases, anyway!

[kelnet]

My doctor visited me while I was in hospital - it was after a routine gall-bladder procedure went horribly wrong.

[jhundt]

here in Holland our doctor will make house-calls... I think that they try to discourage this because it is pretty time-consuming and inefficient - BUT if necessary they will still come around.

[Big John]

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy

They still do back home in England...

East Anglia has just stopped one of it's 'At home' services that was being covered by a private company.
Doctors were working in their own clinics and then making house calls after hours, nothing odd in that but the company were importing the doctors from places like Germany and all over Europe to cover so the poor doctors were already burned up after a weeks work and then commuting here to do more !!!, the inevitable happened (more than once) and patients were being mistreated and some died.
Now it's falling back on the NHS and our local surgeries to cover, problems ahead I reckon.

BBC news story

[Westerly Sunn]

Yep.. Thingo the past, here in the US... My Paternal Grandfather was a Lawyer and they said he'd sit on the back steps and give advice free and trade out work for produce, meat and/or white liquor... My neighbor, in addition to being a great cook and gardener was also a (retired) registered nurse... She had once worked for our family doctor; who was ancient when I was little...
She used to tell me stories about going out in the country in winter storms back in the 30's before electric and paved roads... Yep... Those kind of folks are just not to be found now...

[Starting 2 Old]

Major markets in the US are starting to have house call services again. Much more likely to get a nurse-practioner, or physician's assistant than a doctor, but someone will come to you. Quick search of "housecalls in Dallas" turned up several firms. The only housecalls in my little town are made by veterinarians.....

[PapaBeef]

I remember our doctor making house calls when I was a kid in the early 60s.
I think he charged something like $5.
If it was any more than that, my old man wouldda just let us lay in bed & hope that we could manage to drag ourselves to the doc's office before we died rather than spend the extra $2.

[barkley]

when my partner had our baby early this year the hospital sent a nurse out once a week for the first 6 weeks just to see how we were going. Our baby was completly healthy, its just what they do for everyone here. She weighed him and measured his height etc and answered any questions. It was pretty good cos we were both a bit nervous about having a newborn!