Old-fashioned house calls have always been part of our advanced care.
When you think of physician house calls, you probably think of the “good ol’ days” when TV’s Dr. Kildare and Marcus Welby, MD visited patients at home in their beds. We are happy to say that those days are still alive and well at our practice because our doctors still make house calls, in fact, they never stopped.
Dr. Thomas Azman O.D. , one of our founders, has been making house calls for 40 years. He believes that it is an essential service for individuals who are legally blind or have severe vision loss. He calls on patients who live in the Greater Baltimore Metro area including the Eastern Shore, Western Maryland, DC suburbs, and Virginia whether they live in their own home, senior housing or assisted living facilities. Ensuring that patients receive proper vision care is essential and if that means delivering it to them in their home, then that is what we will do. The services that Dr. Azman delivers during house calls range from comprehensive routine eye exams to low vision evaluations and fittings.
While we continued to provide house calls, the practice all but died off for most physicians across the US as the delivery of health care changed to a hospital centered model. However, house calls are now experiencing a resurgence as medicine strives to find ways to improve the health of a burgeoning elderly population. The American Academy of Family Physicians says that the number of house calls increased from 1.4 million visits in 1999 to 2.3 million in 2009 and the practice is expected to expand. Nationwide data is beginning to show what we have seen in our patients for many years – house calls can help to prevent emergency room visits, hospitalizations and improve outcomes.
The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, Modern Healthcare and Kaiser Health News are increasingly paying attention to house calls and the important role they play in delivering health services to seniors. Low Vision Specialists of Maryland and Virginia discovered long ago that when low vision or complicated health conditions prevent an individual from receiving care at the physician’s office, the delivery of care to their home can greatly improve their quality of life. Our mission is to enhance low vision for those who have been told that nothing more can be done to improve their sight. We help legally blind individuals achieve functional sight for daily activities with a range of low vision products that are designed to compensate for the problems that cannot be addressed through traditional glasses and contacts.
If you or your loved one are physically unable to visit one of our many conveniently located offices, contact us to see if we can assist you by providing a house call.
