Is the old-fashioned House Call your next entrepreneurial venture?
Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 01:50PM 
Entrepreneurship is alive and well in the Nevadan desert!
A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed James Egidio, a co-founder of HouseCall Doctors which is a Las Vegas-based business that teaches physicians how to establish "mobile medical practices". In addition to providing the education and start-up knowledge, the business also supports its licensee physicians by:
- Providing a recognizable and marketable name
- Offering complete marketing and advertising consulting services,including website design, graphic arts, and desktop publishing
- Providing medical billing services
- Offering discounted medical supplies, printed materials such as letterhead, envelopes, business cards, brochures, vehicle signage, and even logo-laden business attire
- Offering practice accounting services utilizing Quick Books
- Providing assistance with malpractice and insurance credentialing.
Egidio is a smart, restless entrepreneur who realized early on that a traditional educational path didn't suit his needs. En route to becoming a Physician Assistant, he was struck by the idea for the business. One of his early steps, a few years after starting the business and partnering with Dale Harelik, was to write a book - a task that took him two and a half years. In 2004, he completed A Physician's Guide to a Successful House Call Medical Practice, published by their own company, Hippocrates Publishing.
It seems there is sound logic for considering starting a "mobile" house call practice. According to Egidio and Harelik, there are at least ten good reasons:
1.) No managed care or HMOs
2.) Lower overhead
3.) Increased reimbursement for medical house calls by Medicare and other insurers
4.) Aging Baby Boomer population
5.) Have more free time; Work part-time and earn a full-time income
6.) Flexible scheduling
7.) Lower malpractice premiums
8.) Utilize medical house calls as an expansion to your office-based practice
9.) Have the edge over your competition
10.) Enjoy a fee-for-service practice
Given the prevalence of mobile diagnostic services -- labs, radiology services, ultrasound, EMG, EKG and ancillary services such a Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy -- it's not a difficult argument to make that the limitations imposed by the old-fashioned house call are no longer present.
This house call interview brings to mind a story from my childhood in South Africa with our beloved general practitioner. At about the age of 3, my youngest brother suffered a severe attack of croup one night. I am quite sure we did not have Emergency Rooms available (this was in about 1963), so my mom placed a call to our GP's home (also no answering services back then!). He arrived very shortly thereafter with his black version of the above bag, and rummaged around for a tongue depressor. Not finding one, he asked my mother - and this was my highlight memory - to fetch him a teaspoon from the kitchen to inspect my brother's throat. He sat all night with my brother in a steam-filled bathroom, and only weeks later confessed that he was minutes away from performing a tracheostomy!
But, back to the topic. It seems that several physicians have discovered the joy of a "house call only" practice. And Egidio's business is not unique. Back east, in New Jersey, Visiting Physician is having an impact on the lives of the physicians and the community patients. And in Atlanta, GA, Mobile Medicine is bringing not only conventional medicine to your living room OR your office (for the busy executive), but also integrative medical services.
The movement towards increased in-home care has spawned a professional association, The American Academy of Home Care Physicians, whose mission is to:
"serve the needs of thousands of physicians and related professionals and agencies interested in improving care of patients in the home. Academy Board member volunteers and members work to reduce barriers and enhance practice education. Notable successes include: fostering increased reimbursement, sponsoring multiple educational and scientific seminars, and providing the practice community with a variety of helpful publications."
I continue to be fascinated by the ingenuity of the entrepreneurial mind and spirit!
Reader Comments (3)
Florida. I'll take any help I can get about how to start it and what I need to maintain a safe and effective practice.
Thanks so much.