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If your memory can stretch back 50 years or so you might remember seeing a well dressed man carrying a black bag approach your or your neighbor's front door. No, it wasn't an IRS auditor or an insurance salesman, or even someone running for city council. It was the doctor. 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. Our house calls story would end abruptly right here, were it not for Family Home Care and Hospice. (FHCH) of Spokane, WA. FHCH is a home health agency serving patients in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. FHCH has recently begun offering primary care medical services in a patient's home. The new service, appropriately named, "House Calls" provides a variety of primary care medical services including, routine check-ups, blood draws, medication monitoring, diagnosing medical conditions and prescribing medications. Following an initial visit and diagnosis, patients may also receive their on-going treatment and follow-up from their House Calls provider, or their in-home care can be coordinated with their regular physician. House Calls medical providers are Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNP). They have received special training and are licensed to provide medical services in the home. The House Calls staff at FHCH actually prefer to see a patient in a home setting instead of a hospital or clinic. "We love this program because it allows us to spend more time with our patients," said Carol Charles, ARNP. "When we can get to know them more closely and see how they're living, we can many times recommend treatment options that will fit more closely with the patient's lifestyle. This is an advantage for the patient that isn't possible at a hospital or clinic." While the new House Calls service is ideal for bed ridden or home bound people, it is not meant only for them. Anyone who would prefer to receive their primary care medical services at home can make use of the service. "We see mostly elderly patients," noted Alicia Bowman, FHCH's primary care coordinator, "as they tend to have the greatest need, but we also see a number of younger patients. There is no reason to feel like this is only something for the elderly." 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." The largest privately owned home health agency in it's market area, Family Home Care and Hospice has been seeing patients in the Inland Northwest for more than 40 years. Family Home Care and Hospice has been honored by Medicare as one of the top 1 percent of home health agencies in Washington State. They have also been recognized as being among the top five percent of home health agencies in the nation.
Article Source: http://www.bodyformind.com/db
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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