Blast from the Past--Medical Care in Your Home by Michael Nowling
Perhaps you're not old enough to remember, but it wasn't that long ago that the sight of a man carrying a small black bag up the walk to your front door could mean only one thing. Can you guess? No, it wasn't an IRS auditor. Not an insurance salesman. It was not even someone selling Amway or running for mayor. It was the doctor coming to your house.
There was a time when doctors would routinely visit patients at their homes. It seems like this convenience disappeared for good about 50 years ago as the baby boom was in full swing and physicians were swamped with patients.
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.
Medical professionals staffing the House Calls program are Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNP). They have additional training and are specially licensed for providing medical services in the patient's home. These skilled professionals would rather see a patient in a home environment instead of at a clinic or a hospital.
"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."
House Calls is a perfect service for the home-bound or people for whom the task of getting to the doctor's office is just too daunting. But, House Calls is not limited to people who are immobile. The service can be used by anyone who prefers their primary care medical services to be delivered at home.
"Certainly the greatest need for the service is among the elderly," said Alicia Bowman Primary Care Coordinator for FHCH, "but the service is not restricted that group alone. We also see a goodly number of younger patients."
Across the nation, services such as House Calls which provide needed primary medical care in the home are rare or non-existent. Without services such as House Calls, many elderly or less mobile patients will not seek medical attention and will allow their condition to worsen until emergency treatment is needed. Even in ideal circumstances, some bed-ridden patients will put off medical care long enough that their illness becomes much more advanced. The presence of a service like House Calls in a community is a foundational element in the health care of this segment of the population.
While the demand for this service in the Spokane area is strong, the rapid growth of the elderly population in the US means that, services like Family Home Care's House Calls will likely be needed in many areas of the country.
"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."
Family Home Care and Hospice is the largest privately owned home health agency in the Inland Northwest and has been serving the Spokane area market for more than 40 years. They have recently been recognized by Medicare as one of the top 1% of all home health agencies in Washington State as well as one of the top 5% of home health agencies in the US.
Michael Nowling is the President of Family Home Care & Hospice, a home health agency in Spokane, WA. The largest privately owned home health agency in Spokane, Family Home Care & Hospice has been serving the inland Northwest for more than 40 years.
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Perhaps you're not old enough to remember, but it wasn't that long ago that the sight of a man carrying a small black bag up the walk to your front door could mean only one thing. Can you guess? No, it wasn't an IRS auditor. Not an insurance salesman. It was not even someone selling Amway or running for mayor. It was the doctor coming to your house.
There was a time when doctors would routinely visit patients at their homes. It seems like this convenience disappeared for good about 50 years ago as the baby boom was in full swing and physicians were swamped with patients.
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.
Medical professionals staffing the House Calls program are Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNP). They have additional training and are specially licensed for providing medical services in the patient's home. These skilled professionals would rather see a patient in a home environment instead of at a clinic or a hospital.
"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."
House Calls is a perfect service for the home-bound or people for whom the task of getting to the doctor's office is just too daunting. But, House Calls is not limited to people who are immobile. The service can be used by anyone who prefers their primary care medical services to be delivered at home.
"Certainly the greatest need for the service is among the elderly," said Alicia Bowman Primary Care Coordinator for FHCH, "but the service is not restricted that group alone. We also see a goodly number of younger patients."
Across the nation, services such as House Calls which provide needed primary medical care in the home are rare or non-existent. Without services such as House Calls, many elderly or less mobile patients will not seek medical attention and will allow their condition to worsen until emergency treatment is needed. Even in ideal circumstances, some bed-ridden patients will put off medical care long enough that their illness becomes much more advanced. The presence of a service like House Calls in a community is a foundational element in the health care of this segment of the population.
While the demand for this service in the Spokane area is strong, the rapid growth of the elderly population in the US means that, services like Family Home Care's House Calls will likely be needed in many areas of the country.
"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."
Family Home Care and Hospice is the largest privately owned home health agency in the Inland Northwest and has been serving the Spokane area market for more than 40 years. They have recently been recognized by Medicare as one of the top 1% of all home health agencies in Washington State as well as one of the top 5% of home health agencies in the US.
Michael Nowling is the President of Family Home Care & Hospice, a home health agency in Spokane, WA. The largest privately owned home health agency in Spokane, Family Home Care & Hospice has been serving the inland Northwest for more than 40 years.
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