Ever had a housecall?

[MrBern]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/business/yourmoney/23doctors.html

Would u rather go to a hospital ER or pay a steep price for a housecall?


Snippet:
A new kind of medical practice is flourishing nationwide that offers to go to where the patients are — whether a home, an office or a hotel — to treat ailments as diverse as a sprained ankle or a bad case of bronchitis. Some services may even wheel in a mobile X-ray machine or an ultrasound machine, depending on the ailment, or perhaps pull out kits to test for strep throat or to draw blood. They may dole out medication on the spot or arrange for pharmacies to deliver prescriptions.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

All the time ... in Chile. Doctors still make regular housecalls there. And no, it's not expensive. In fact, it's covered by medical plans.

.

 

[Viola]

Couple months ago I had an incident where my jaw got infected and swelled out to about four times its natural size. I looked real bad and it hurt like heck, and since I had no insurance of any kind we ended up dealing with it at home.

Boiled an X-acto. Drank vodka afterwards.

It worked, too, but I imagine that's not usually what they mean by "house-call."

 

[Twitch]

I was in an ER barely 2 weeks ago. No single MD could have diagnosed and treated or have been able to accesss my complete medical history in a home visit. Another vital thing was that they had the lab urinalysis in 20 minutes confirming a raging infection.

Until Dr. "Bones" McCoy shows up at my door with a tri-corder to treat me I'll head for the ER.

 

[staggerwing]

I use a doctor that makes house calls. And I live in the DC suburbs. There are a few out there.

 

[dhermann1]

When I was little it was still the norm. I remember the kindly old Dr in the dark three piece suit and the black bag coming to care for my brother's tonsillitis. This was back around 1953. But within the last few years I had one experience with a house call. My wife had been feeling very bad and we opted for the "Drs on Call" phone number. The guy who came seemed thoroughly competent, but he was newly in the country, and wrote her a prescription for Darvon, which is no longer used in this country very much, instead of Darvocet, which is standard. We went all over Brooklyn looking for a pharmacy that carried Darvon, and failed. Meanwhile we couldn't get a hold of the Dr to get a new prescription. This was just before the internet started coming into its own, the mid 90's. So there a lot of reasons not to get a good old fashioned house call.
Now, I have a vet who makes house calls, and that's a horse of a different color.
BTW, geez, Twitch, take care of yourself!

 

[Paisley]

I've only had housecalls from the paramedics. Someone called them for me a few years ago when I fainted on the sidewalk.

However, doctors make a lot of money on running tests, and the equipment can't be carried around. Until it can be, I don't think we'll see a lot of house calls.