Anyone who has seen the TV series "Little House on the Prairie" has a good idea of what healthcare was like in the 19th century. If someone fell ill, the family had only two choices - they could either tend to the person to the best of their abilities, using whatever tools and methods may be around, or they could seek out a physician, and summon him to their house. House calls were not a luxury then; they were standard practice.

 

As time passed, the field of medicine became very broad and complex. The list of ailments we knew how to treat effectively grew, and the list of possible resources to utilize grew just as quickly. As more medical equipment became available, and as the average "care team" grew from just a physician to include multiple support staff, the age of house calls began to decline, as treatment was less effective while away from the tools and staffing support of a centralized care system.

 

Instead, the norm changed to patients traveling to the physician's office, for everything from checkups to follow-ups to emergencies. Read more