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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. Back in those days physicians would often visit patient's homes to render care. Most everyone thought it was good idea, but this convenience seemed to vanish as doctors became increasingly inundated with patients during the baby boom. 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 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." The House Calls service is perfect for bed ridden or home-bound patients or patients who have difficulty getting to the doctor's office. However, the service is not restricted merely to the home-bound, but can be utilized by anyone in the community who would like primary care medical services to be performed in their home. "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." In FHCH's primary market area, as in many communities across the country, there are no services which provide primary medical care on an in-home basis. This means that, without the House Calls service, many patients will not see a medical professional until their condition becomes serious enough that emergency treatment is needed. Even in the best cases, home-bound patients often postpone their medical care long enough that their conditions have worsened. The availability of quality in-home medical care is essential to the continued health of these patients. 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." 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.
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Michael Nowling is the President of FHCH, a home health agency in the area, WA. The largest privately owned home health agency in the area, FHCH has been serving the inland Northwest for over 40 years.
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