Yes, On-Demand House Calls from Your Doctor Are a Thing

Once upon a time when you would catch a cold (or even something more serious) you would send a friend or family member to summon the doctor. The doctor would show up at your house with all of the equipment needed to make a diagnosis, and prescribe medicine and potentially even leave a nurse to care for you.

Time’s were simpler then. And today we wouldn’t dream of treating all sorts of medical situations with a house call. But one thing is for sure, and that is for many routine health issues, a house call can be more affordable, easier for whomever is sick, and just down right easier than heading to the doctor.

While there were several decades in which house calls faded into obscurity, recent years have seen a resurgence of house calls. Medical services offering house calls often utilize “telemedicine” technologies to augment the services offered in the visit.

These include live chat with medical support workers from home, the ability to talk with your pharmacist, and the ability to ask follow-up or on-demand questions of your doctor through a handy app.

On-Demand House Call Benefits

Here at OnlineDoctor, we’ve covered a wide range of internet-enabled medicine, and few services are as downright helpful as the ability to get a house call from your doctor.

Some of the most common benefits of house calls include:

• No need to expose yourself to the germs of others in a doctor’s office or hospital
• No need to break up your day with a commute, sit in waiting rooms, or even leave your house
• Most house-call services will come to you no matter where you are (at the office, in a hotel, or at home)
• Who really feels like travelling anywhere (including the doctor’s) when they’re sick?
• For less serious medical conditions, house calls are much less expensive than visiting the emergency room
• Many house call services are available for longer hours than urgent care facilities
• Many house-call doctors come equipped to perform most all procedures available at an urgent care facility.

Beyond the above listed benefits, many on-demand medical house call services utilize more cutting-edge and convenient medical care and medical education support through technology.

Many on-demand house call services have custom apps in which individuals can quickly and affordably receive answers to simple medical questions 24/7. While more serious medical inquiries often require house calls (or heading to a specialist), many medical issues can be addressed by nursing staff or the doctor on call through messaging within apps. Additionally, many on-demand house call services provide access to your health records on the go through whatever app the service has created.

Of course there are times when house call services just aren’t enough. One should never attempt to take care of a medical emergency with a house call service. Additionally, one should not think of house call doctors as specialists in any one area. Instead, house calls are a more convenient version of an urgent care or walk-in medical clinic.

Immunizations, paperwork for employment or school, routine infections, flu and so forth can all be handled by a house call doctor. But for more serious issues the house call doctor will likely refer you to a specialist or advise you to head to the emergency room.

If you’re looking for a on-demand house call doctor for much of your routine medical care, keep in mind to look out for some of the following features that many of the most excellent house call platforms and apps of today offer:

• Messaging with nursing staff, a caseworker, and/or your health care practitioner in-between visits
• House call doctors (and staff) ready to perform almost all procedures that can be performed in an urgent care setting
• House call doctors available for a wider range of hours than urgent care settings
• House call doctors who accept most major forms of insurance
• House call doctors who are less expensive than urgent care settings without insurance
• House call doctors who will fill out paperwork for employment or school physicals
• House call doctors who work with a platform that provides easy access to health records
• House call doctors who work for platforms that easily let you rate the performance of health care professionals and switch practitioners if you so choose
• House call platforms that truly provide “on-demand” house calls (2 hours of less)

If you’re looking for some of the most top-notch house call doctor platforms, many of which offer all of the features above, be sure to check out our ranking of the best on-demand house call doctor platforms today!