At home flu treatment brings convenience to patients

PHOENIX, Ariz. (FOX 10) -- When you're sick, the last thing you want to do is get up, get dressed and head to a doctor's office. One company promises to provide the same care you'd get there, only at you're convenience.

It starts with a phone call. Operators at DispatchHealth assess a patient's needs.

"We have our own proprietary software platform that we've built that helps us risk stratify the patient population," said an employee. "Our green scenario is we will go ahead and send a team out to your home, yellow is we will have oversight with one of our physician's assistants or physicians and red we will send you right to the emergency room."

The concept was started by a doctor in Denver, Colorado. A team, which includes a nurse practitioner and an EMT, will travel to any home within the freeway system in the Valley. Inside their cars are medical kits.

"We can do whatever happens in a standing urgent care and a lot of what happens in the emergency room so we can provide those kind of services," said an employee.

For patients like Norma Rimley, the convenience brings comfort.

"To have somebody when something happens to come immediately to take care of you in your own home and you don't have to go to urgent care or the emergency room and sit for six hours," said Rimley.

Flu season is especially busy.

"When you are in the emergency room sometimes it is the worst place for you to be because if you're not that sick you're probably going to get sicker," said an employee.

There is always physician oversight. The rovers are equipped with a certified lab and can also take x-rays. They treat patients from three months old and up.

"It's really designed to keep our patients out of the emergency room so our first responders can respond to true emergencies."

Editor's Note: DispatchHealth provides x-ray services, but they work with a third party to provide that service.