7 Healthcast: Healthy at home

Instead of waiting in your doctor's office, what if you could get treated in the comfort of your own home?

Working mom, Cathy Kanner, started to panic when she felt flu-like symptoms. Juggling her job and kids, Cathy says she can't afford to get sick so, she called for a house call.

"I didn't feel like schlepping to my doctors and they came within an hour," Cathy said.

It's the return of the house call. Licensed physician associates are pounding the pavement visiting patients at their homes, offices, even hotels.

"We are licensed to evaluate, diagnose, and treat and write prescriptions for the patients," Naomi Friedman, a licensed physician associate and founder of Sickday Medical House Calls, said. "Basically PA’s are all over the country. They work in primary care, orthopedic, emergency rooms, and private practices as well."

Since Friedman arrived on the scene in 2001 with her services, business has exploded.

"Moms with three children love this service, [they] don't want to take all their kids out and sit in a doctor's office…The traveler to the high-end executive and many of our patients are the uninsured," Friedman said.

Friedman says that on average, thirty to forty minutes is spent with each patient during a house call. A medical history and vital signs are always taken and the team of physician associates work with a supervising physician for any follow-up.

"We're not trying to recreate an emergency room. We're really trying to treat acute episodic conditions," Friedman said.

Sickday Medical House Calls has plans on expanding to other major markets including Boston sometime this year.

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