House calls may be considered outdated, yet still an effective service that has started to become popular once again. Wouldn’t you rather be able to call your doctor in the case of an emergency, than be tortured by the emergency room process?
For Australians, this is a common service currently available to all of their residents. The United States has also begun to offer these services, but they are limited to those that meet certain healthcare criteria and medical coverage requirements.
Home visits by a physician ensure high quality care, because the focus is solely on the patient they have come to evaluate and treat. In a doctor’s office or hospital emergency room a physician is often tending to more than 5 patients at a time. Although many of these physicians save lives everyday, it is easier for them to miss something than it would be for a doctor that is treating only one patient. Those with a serious medical condition or disability reap the most rewards from this type of service. It can be a matter of life and death for some.
Australia has a wide market of medical providers that make home visits. One of the largest networks is the National Home Doctor Service. Australians are currently a bit nervous that their proposed healthcare system will now limit who can benefit from the service.
It’s hard to miss something you have never had. Yet, how do you adapt from being accustomed to receiving top notch medical care and treatment within your home to sharing your physician’s attention each time you travel to see them? Hopefully the two to three tier healthcare system they adopt, will be practical instead of segregatory. Although I’m sure they’d like to abide by the old saying “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it”, their economy is relying on a healthcare change.
Although this service is limited in the United States, the places that offer it accept a decent number of healthcare insurances. Call your health plan to determine if you qualify If you know someone that would benefit from this service as well, tell them to call their health plan too. Some studies have indicated that using a home physician could decrease your chance of hospitalization by 60 percent or more and save you about 25 percent on medical costs.
If you don’t have the privilege of having your doctor come to you, you might look into the new home visit – online doctor visits. Several insurance companies have been getting on board with this new trend and some believe this can dramatically reduce the cost of healthcare, as well as the number of ER visits. A typical online doctor visit will run around $49 (or less depending on your insurance and deductible requirements).
