Image by Artbandito via FlickrWhen patients with non-serious, non-life threatening acute medical illness and injuries seek medical attention, they usually look to an immediate care center for help. The immediate care center is an excellent option when locally available. However, the neighborhood immediate care center may, at times, be overwhelmed with a large number of patients all desiring immediate care.Immediate care center hours are usually limited to daytime and in some cases evening and weekends, but almost never at night. In the San Francisco Bay Area and surrounding regions, the immediate car center is uncommon. The few that exist are frequently busy and overwhelmed. When patients can get in quickly to an immediate care center, the services are usually quite convenient.
Another option to the immediate care center here in the San Francisco Bay Area was established in 2007 by Dr. John Horning, a board certified emergency physician. Urgent Med Housecalls is a 24/7 doctor house call service that brings urgent care medical services conveniently to patients just about anywhere. These house call physicians and other providers bring the immediate care center to the patient. Services are available throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and even beyond.
Patients have been visited in there homes, hotel rooms, workplace, even aboard yachts and cargo ships. Procedures are safely performed in the home setting when all the proper precautions are taken, Dr. Horning notes. An additional advantage is that by receiving medical care at home, patients can avoid exposure to other patients who may be infectious. The typical immediate care center, will require the patient to complete paperwork upon arrival, then the obligatory time spent in the waiting room, perhaps with minimal communication regarding when the doctor will be available to the patient.
After a brief interaction with a usually hurried doctor, the patient must typically travel to the pharmacy for medications or supplies. Patients utilizing the services of Urgent Med Housecalls generally receive a rapid response, however when a wait is required they may rest comfortably at home or in hotel room. They may continue to work if necessary, or to socialize, play or whatever. The day or evening is not necessarily lost as it typically is in the immediate care center or ER.
House call physicians get right to work and complete the paperwork for the patient as they go. The visiting doctor is unhurried in most cases so that ample time is available for doctor-patient interaction and the patient's questions are answered. Dispensed medications are usually offered for convenience, or prescriptions may be telephoned or written upon request. Followup communication by telephone is always easily available 24/7 for optimal patient care. Urgent healthcare options have never been easier than this.
