VANCOUVER -- House calls used to be an integral part of family practice. But because of the shortage of GP's, most family doctors are too busy to go outside the office. CityNews caught up with one who's going against the grain.
Dr. John Sloan, Family Physican, says, "The people I see, the frail, older housebound can't really be seen in an office, they can't get to the office."
Each afternoon, Dr. Sloan hits the road, seeing about 10 Vancouver patients in their home environment. One of the patients he checks up on a care home patient whose been bothered by a slow-healing wound. His patients appreciate the door to door service.
Patient Henny Van Oort says, " I don't have to go anywhere. I don't have to call a taxi, you know he just comes her and it's fine."
Dr. Sloan left his full-time family practice 12 years ago to focus on the elderly. His patient files are now kept in his own home office. He comments, "Income wise it's about equivalent because the overhead cost of the office is missing. There are costs, but it works out to be the same and it's just much more interesting."
By going to his elderly patients, he's able to keep on top of their conditions, to help them stay out of hospital.
Thea Rosenstock's father was a patient of Dr. Sloan. She says he made it possible for them to keep her dad with home care.
Thea is thankful to Dr. Sloan for taking her father as a patient. He had advanced Parkinson's, and only passed away last November. Thea says, "alot of doctors don't want to make house calls anymore. Luckily, we were able to find Dr. Sloan."
With our aging population and rising overhead costs, is Dr. Sloan's type of practice something that will keep other family doctors and their patients happy?
Dr. Michael Golbey, President of the BCMA, says, "if you're making housecalls, you can probably can't make more than maybe one or two an hour. Most of us in family practice are obviously way busier than that. We'll see 4-6 patients an hour, so that will be impossible in the house call situation."
While the model may not work in full service family practice, it certainly does with seniors.
Dr. Sloan works half time, handling about 250 patients. If you're wondering, he does take on new patients when he can, but only in the Vancouver area.
Tuesday February 21, 2006
