Los Angeles Needs House Calls Now

House Calls in Los Angeles a Pipe Dream?

It’s been so long since Americans enjoyed the once-common amenity of doctor house calls that most of us don’t even think of them now.  If we do fleetingly wish that doctors still made house calls, we tend to sigh wistfully and dismiss the idea as a pipe dream.  With the complexity of modern medicine and its dependence on high-tech tools for diagnosis and treatment, it’s easy to simply assume that receiving the most up-to-date medical care is not even possible in the home today.

What’s Old Is New Again

Increasingly, however, physicians are coming to realize the great value of house calls for their patients.  Though house calls may sound like a relic of horse and buggy days, more and more doctors are choosing to once again take to the road to see patients.  Especially in a city like Los Angeles, which places such a demand on patients just to navigate the crowded highways and the labyrinth of sprawling modern medical complexes in order to get to a doctor or E.R, house calls provide a huge sense of relief.

Advantages of  Los Angeles Doctor House Calls

Los Angeles needs this resurgence of  house calls for more reasons than simple convenience.  House calls:

●      Allow physicians to treat patients in a more personal way, and they are likely to spend more time with a patient during a house call than an office visit. 

●      Give physicians a glimpse into a patient’s environment, allowing them to recommend helpful changes to make a home safer or more comfortable.

●      Keep patients out of crowded waiting rooms so that they are not exposed to illnesses.  This is especially critical with COVID19 still a threat.

●      Can actually save money.  Visits to hospitals, E.R.s, and urgent care centers are not known for being upfront about costs, and bills arrive rife with hidden charges.  House calls generally carry a flat fee and are often reimbursable by insurance companies.

●      Are available 24/7, which is great since illness seldom respects doctor’s hours.

●      Can be arranged for the same day–or whenever it suits you.  You should not have to wait days or weeks for a doctor appointment, and with house calls (and telemedicine), you don’t.

●      Cover a wide variety of illnesses and injuries.

●      Can be used for many primary care services like physicals and immunizations.

●      Allow patients with chronic, often debilitating diseases like congestive heart failure and diabetes to get treatment and manage symptoms at home.

●      Include a surprising number of diagnostic tests.  With portable centrifuges available, labs can not only be drawn at home but processed.  Once huge pieces of equipment like X-ray, EKG, and ultrasound machines, can now be easily transported and used in a home.  Patients can also receive I.V. treatments at home.

●      Relieve patients of some of the fear associated with visiting a doctor’s office.   Children, so often frightened of doctors and medical settings, feel more relaxed with a house call.  Dementia patients who become confused and disoriented when removed from their homes are often more comfortable and cooperative seeing a doctor in a familiar setting.

●      Don’t necessarily have to take place in your home.  If you are visiting Los Angeles, physicians will make “hotel calls,”  and if you need to make an appointment during business hours they also make “office calls.”  House calls bring the doctor to wherever you are.

A Doctor Is on the Way!

The idea that we can grab the nearest electronic device and summon a doctor to our homes makes sense in an era when pretty much every other known service and commodity can be delivered to our front doors.  If you can grab your phone and order someone to bring you a box of CheezIts when you “need” them during a late night session binge-watching Ted Lasso, you surely ought to be able to get someone to  come help when you’re sick or injured.  What greater need could there be than medical care?

So the next time your child wakes up crying with a fever at 3:00 a.m. or you have a weird rash show up or when you don’t know how you can manage to get your homebound parent to a doctor appointment, remember that house calls make it all better–or at least a whole lot simpler!