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.

"We love the chance to spend as much time as necessary with our patients," noted Carol Charles, ARNP. "We like to get to know our patients on a personal basis and see how they live. Often our observations will give us an advantage in recommending treatments that may be more effective for the patient. We wouldn't have that if we were at 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."

In many communities throughout the nation, services which will deliver primary medical care in the home are non-existent. Without a House Calls style service, many people in the community will postpone medical care until their condition deteriorates enough to require emergency treatment. Even under the best conditions, some bed ridden or immobile patients postpone their care long enough that their problems have become significantly more serious. Having a service like House Calls available in a community is critical to the health of these people.

While the Spokane area has demonstrated a significant demand for a House Calls style service, increasing elderly populations in communities all across the country means that this style of primary care medical service will be needed in most areas.

The expertise and systems for programs like House Calls are found in the many home health agencies in communities throughout our country," added Michael Nowling, President of FHCH. "If home health agencies throughout the nation took on this challenge, it would be a tremendous help to our elderly residents and would also represent a significant decrease in the load currently being experienced by hospital emergency rooms and ER staff."

For more than 40 years Family Home Care and Hospice has been serving patients in the Inland Northwest. Recently they were recognized by Medicare as being among the top one percent of home health agencies in the State of Washington and among the top five percent of home health agencies in the country.