“Can a doctor still make house calls?” That is something that I hear from patients all the time. Truth be told about doctors that make house calls, the short answer is a resounding yes! However, there are some nuances to this statement that are to be considered.

Back in the olden days, your local family primary care physician would frequently do house calls for patients without any issues. Over time, medical care and overall health care has become more complicated. As an example, diagnostic testing for primary care services that doctors use such as an EKG machine, x-rays, documentation, procedures and more that are performed in a traditional modern doctor's office is normally too large, too cumbersome, or just straightforwardly impractical to perform at a patient's house.

Additionally, with the advent of managed care and health insurance that's provided by a healthcare professional and healthcare provider, schedules have become so overburdened with the need to see too many patients under urgent care in a short span of time. With a certain quota to meet with patients every day and factoring in the travel time required to and from the patient's home, performing house call service has become impractical and has pushed office visits to become the norm.

So what's changed?  

Well, for starters, new technology has come up with advancements that allow us to have smaller, lighter and portable medical tools that can now be brought around easily and do not require a large office to store them. Secondly, advancements in mobile devices such as tablets, smartphones, and laptops have allowed practitioners to carry an entire practice’s worth of documentation and records (which were traditionally found physically in walls through paper charts) thanks to the convenience of the internet and the world wide web.  Finally, new practice models such as Direct Primary Care (DPC) have smaller practice sizes that free up doctors to spend more time with each individual patient thus taking the time factors out of the equation and allowing them the ability to travel and make house calls. 

Your local, traditional, and insurance-based doctor probably won't regularly provide a house calls program and home-based primary care for patients or any other sick person unless they've known you for years or that you would require urgent care for a chronic condition. But some doctors and providers have been able to bring back the old-school house call to the modern age.

If you have any questions about House Calls home care feel free to reach out to us at: info@starlighthealth.com

You deserve better than what the traditional medical system can provide! 

Starlight Health is a Mobile Direct Primary Care that offers patients an alternative if they are fed up with the expense and inconvenience of the traditional medical system. It’s basically a simple membership plan with no hidden fees, no long term contracts, and no surprises.  Get direct access and urgent care from your own personal provider who's there when you need it, where you want it, and who can help you feel secure about your health at a price that’s actually affordable. Join the Direct Primary Care medical service revolution by scheduling a free consultation today.

If it’s too much of a hassle for you to go out, we can come to you!  We see our patients in the comfort of their own home, our office, or anywhere else in the immediate Fort Collins area.