In the past, only the noble and rich families that we see portrayed in movies can afford to have a doctor visit them in the comfort of their own home. Now, everyone, young and old, can be able to call the hotline and have a medical doctor look after them through a visiting home doctor’s app or website. With the huge patient traffic that we encounter every single day in hospitals, it seems that having your medical consultation at home is very convenient indeed. But are doctor home visits really necessary? For more information about medical home visits, check http://homedoctorssydney.com.au.
Doctor home visits: The benefits
To answer the question of home visits being a necessity, we must first elaborate on the benefits that we get when we have doctor home visits.
It is convenient. Patients do not need to leave their house and face the grueling commute or drive going to the hospital. They do not need to wait in line for hours in the emergency room just to get treated for a non-emergency complaint. What they could do is to book an appointment online for a home doctor’s service and wait for their doctor to arrive in their doorsteps.
It helps in patient traffic in hospitals. You must have experienced waiting for your turn to be examined in the emergency room for a simple stomachache for hours just because there are more life-threatening conditions that need the doctor’s attention. Patients are triaged in ERs according to their need, so they attend to emergency cases first; they are not on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. So if you have a non-life-threatening medical issue that needs the attention of a doctor, it is best for you and the hospital to get a home visiting doctor to attend to your needs.
It ensures continuity of care. If an elderly or a person with a disability is sick, they do not have the luxury of going in and out of hospitals and clinics just to get monitored for their medical problems. Having doctor home visits make it easier for them and their PCPs to evaluate their progress since they are closely monitored and observed in their own homes.
The disadvantages for doctors
As much as home doctor services would help patients improve and relieve their symptoms from their medical conditions, there are now increasing complaints and dissatisfaction in the part of the doctors when it comes to home visits.
It is inconvenient to find a patient’s house. The patient surely gives their complete information during their initial call, like their complete name and address, symptoms, and insurance information, among other things. However, doctors find it time-consuming and irrelevant to do house calls. For one, with the different directions, satnavs and GPS would provide us, it takes a rocket scientist to finally figure out how to find a patient address. And when they get there, they need to find a decent parking space away from the house because most only have resident parking. Their cars would even get towed unless they indicate they are visiting doctors.
It is unsafe. If you are a visiting doctor, you may not know if the area the patient is in can be a haven for drug addicts or whatnot. You just attend to a request and off you go, only to find out that the place is not safe for outsiders. And what about the hygiene and the contamination of one’s home? Doctors can be at risk of getting infected by whatever is in the house of the patient they are visiting. Doctor home visits are there to treat patients, but how can doctors avoid getting sick while delivering treatments at home?
If we live in an ideal world, home doctor services in Melbourne really are necessary and that is a no-brainer. But it is also important to think about the welfare of the doctors who are going out of their way to provide healthcare for us.