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Home | Home & Family | Elderly Care It may seem odd to us now, but in those days doctors commonly visited the homes of patients to give care. This practice seemed to go by the wayside as the baby boom swamped physicians with a wave of new 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. FHCH providers are Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNP) who have been specially trained and licensed to provide in-home medical services. The ARNP staff at FHC prefers to visit a patient in their home rather than in a clinic or hospital setting. "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." While the new House Calls service is ideal for bed ridden or home bound people, it is not meant only for them. Anyone who would prefer to receive their primary care medical services at home can make use of the service. "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." Across the nation, services such as House Calls which provide needed primary medical care in the home are rare or non-existent. Without services such as House Calls, many elderly or less mobile patients will not seek medical attention and will allow their condition to worsen until emergency treatment is needed. Even in ideal circumstances, some bed-ridden patients will put off medical care long enough that their illness becomes much more advanced. The presence of a service like House Calls in a community is a foundational element in the health care of this segment of the population. 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. 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." The largest privately owned home health agency in it's market area, Family Home Care and Hospice has been seeing patients in the Inland Northwest for more than 40 years. Family Home Care and Hospice has been honored by Medicare as one of the top 1 percent of home health agencies in Washington State. They have also been recognized as being among the top five percent of home health agencies in the nation. Article Source: http://www.articlewheel.com
Michael Nowling is the President of FHCH, a home health agency in Spokane, WA. The largest privately owned home health agency in Spokane, FHCH has been serving the inland Northwest for more than 40 years.
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