Long gone are the days when a doctor came to your house when you were sick…or so we thought. Kathy Kemle, a physician’s assistant, leads the Home Visit Project at the Family Health Center.

            “There’s no place like home,” says Kathy Kemle, “And making home visits allows medical professionals to have a more holistic perspective on the patient. We get a good view of where they live every day, and in particular, what medications they are taking or ones they aren’t taking.” They also learn more about the patient’s living arrangement, what might be a danger to the patient, or actually see the medications he or she is taking.

            Of course, the home teams also need to bring their equipment with them. Understandably, those little black bags doctors used to carry have now become large duffel bags with an assortment of equipment. “Our ‘little black bags’ are quite different from those of the past,” says Kemle. The home-team bags have a flashlight, phlebotomy supplies, bandages, glucomenter, INR machine (for blood clotting), prescription pad, syringes (sometimes with pneumonia/flu/antibiotics), blood drawing supplies, pulse oxometer, portable X-ray service, and a portable EKG. The team can also access electronic medical records with wireless Internet connection. “And of course we have a GPS in our car,” says Kemle. “It helps improve the efficiency of us getting to a patient’s home, and it helps us not get lost.”

            All patients in the home-bound program have to meet certain criteria. They must be Bibb County residents and already be a Family Health Center (FHC) patient. Most patients are referred by the physicians at the FHC, often because the doctor is concerned about the patient’s ability to easily reach medical care.

            The home-care team averages 40 visits per month, usually setting aside two half days per week for home visits. The Family Health Center is expanding its presence to assisted living facilities and will increase its weekly visits to 3–4 half days per week.

            During the home-visit team’s first appointment, they will take a medical history, vital signs, look at the medicines in the home and the food in the refrigerator. The process is very much like an office visit, [but it gives a truer picture of the patients home environment, and they are actually able to see the actual living environment that the physician would only be hearing about] only it’s in the privacy and comfort of the patient’s home.

            The Family Health Center home-visit program has become especially important to our homebound patients. The program itself covers children through adults, and most patients are seen on a monthly basis but that depends on their medical necessity. The patients on the homevisit program are typically very frail with multiple complex problems. Most have multiple chronic diseases, lack mobility, or have no transportation to get to a doctor. The patients in this program find it very difficult and taxing to get out of the house.

            Because the home-care team is able to develop and improve relationships with our patients, the emotional benefits to the patients and their caregivers are greatly enhanced. The home-visit team builds a special bond with the patients because their visits become more than just an office visit. People trust them more and are more honest about what is actually going on. This trust, according to Kemle, helps the home team maintain the patient’s health in the home, and most importantly, out of the hospital.

            “It gives you a really great appreciation for the dignity of human beings and their capacity for survival,” says Kemle. “I admire these people so much for triumphing over their adversities, for the human capacity to survive.”

            For instance, one woman had been a home-visit patient for five years, but her steady improvement was so promising she graduated out of the program. And while others may need not make such improvement and even need the constant care of hospice, home visits remain a fulfilling way to interact with a patient on a more personal level and to provide care for people who would most likely not have it otherwise. Most importantly, of course, patients are allowed the chance to thrive in their home, wherever home may be.