Why French doctors still make house calls

[Horse with no Name]

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/france/090309/why-french-doctors-still-make-house-calls

>>>snip
In the summer of 1966, the doctor Marcel Lascar reported to work on a Monday and learned that one of his heart patients had died over the weekend because he couldn’t reach a physician. Lascar recalled that his bathroom had flooded one weekend and he had no trouble calling an emergency number for a repairman. Why couldn’t it work the same to reach for a doctor?

It turned out it could, and SOS Medecins was born. Today, the service boasts a network of about 1,000 full-time doctors, working through 60 regional associations and covering two thirds of the country, including the overseas departments, said Serge Smadja, the organization’s general secretary. More than 4 million calls per year yield some 2.5 million home visits by general practitioners who treat non-life-threatening illnesses ranging from high fevers to bronchitis, gastric pain to depression.

>>>snip
In the complex web of French medical bureaucracy, door-to-door service seems straightforward. The cost is slightly more than the standard 22 euros for an office visit and it is reimbursed under the country’s universal health insurance plan. Smadja said patients widely use but don’t abuse the privilege because for most people, "it’s not fun for them to see a doctor.”

>>>snip
In fact, Smadja said, the services saves the government money by collaborating with other emergency services as well as the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance. Home visits reduce the burden on emergency rooms and ambulance services, keeping them from becoming unnecessarily overwhelmed, Smadja said.

[marmar]

1. I love France, and the health system makes me green with envy.

Je t'aime, La Belle France. :loveya:

[TahitiNut]

6. Moi aussi.

"Joie d'vivre" seems to be comprehended only in France.

[KoKo]

2. Kick...it's great to read something from "offshore." Thanks for Post! n/t

[valerief]

3. Tres bon! nt

[baldguy]

4. Our corporate overlords force Americans to wallow in pig shit

& try to make us believe it's a champagne bubble bath.

[nilram]

5. s'truth... but whatever you do, don't eat the "caviar!" nt

[mainer]

7. It does sound good, but it's also inefficient

I wonder how many hours the doctor ends up spending just driving from patient to patient. In that same time, he could see quite a few more patients.

Also, there's the problem of supplies, equipment, etc. It's hard to do a proper pelvic exam, for example, without the right lighting and the right table.

I would think that for most house calls, it would be a lot more efficient (and less expensive) to use nurse practitioners.