Ganton_House_Calls_Article

House Calls are Alive and Well!

By: Christi Losinski, Marketing Director

 

Once upon a time, physicians would come to the patient, not the other way around. We’re now living in a much different world. In a relatively short period of time the healthcare industry has evolved to serve growing populations over much broader geographical areas. Technology is shaping the way we interact. Patients can utilize telehealth and online visits to communicate with their physicians.

 

These changes are very positive for most, but many among our senior population pine for the “old days” when things were much more accessible to them. It’s getting harder for them to travel to appointments and sometimes difficult for them to get an appointment in a timely manner. Yet they value face-to-face, personalized interaction with their physician.

 

One of the amenities of living in an assisted living community is that most have healthcare providers round on patients in their own apartments. This little known “secret” can be a real lifesaver to many as they find it more difficult to get out and about in the community, one of the main reasons people move to assisted living.

 

One must consider the list of benefits as well when switching to an onsite provider:

 

  • You don’t have to leave the comfort of your apartment to see a physician.
  • There is a quick turn-around time from appointment request to being seen.
  • The physician is typically “on-call” for the community, allowing them to easily communicate should you become ill.
  • Prescriptions can be called in quickly and received promptly.

 

Every provider and assisted living community is different but it’s definitely something to consider. If you’re looking at making the transition to assisted living ask who the in-house provider is and how long he or she has been seeing patients there. It’s probable that the in-house provider services extent to podiatry, dentistry, hearing, etc.

 

This decision often does not have to be made at the time you move in. Many people have doctors that they’ve been seeing consistently for ten, twenty, even thirty years. If that’s the case and you wish to maintain seeing your existing primary care physician many assisted livings offer round-trip transportation to local medical appointments.

 

Whatever the case may be, you have the ability to tailor your assisted living experience to meet your needs.