Yes, thousands of doctors still make house calls, and the practice is growing fast. In 2022, more than 16,000 primary care clinicians delivered 5.6 million home visits to Medicare patients alone. The number of providers offering home-based care grew 40% between 2016 and 2022, so finding a doctor who comes to you is more realistic than it was even a few years ago.
Who Offers House Calls Today
House calls come from several different types of providers, and understanding the differences helps you find the right fit.
Concierge medicine practices are the most straightforward option for people who want a personal doctor available for home visits. You pay an annual membership fee (typically ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per year), and in return you get a doctor who limits their patient panel to six to eight visits a day instead of the usual 20. Many concierge doctors include home visits as part of the membership, particularly for patients who have trouble getting to the office or need more immediate attention. Not every concierge practice offers this, so ask before signing up.
Mobile urgent care services operate more like on-demand house calls. Companies like DispatchHealth and Heal send clinicians to your home for acute problems: infections, injuries, dehydration, flu symptoms, and similar issues you’d normally go to urgent care for. You typically book through an app or phone call and a provider arrives within a few hours. These visits are often billed through insurance the same way an urgent care visit would be.
Home-based primary care (HBPC) programs are designed for people who are homebound or have serious difficulty leaving the house. These are ongoing relationships where a doctor or nurse practitioner visits regularly, managing chronic conditions, adjusting medications, and coordinating with specialists. Many hospital systems and independent practices now run dedicated HBPC programs, and this is the category that’s seen the biggest growth in recent years.
How to Find a House Call Doctor Near You
The American Academy of Home Care Medicine runs a free online tool called the House Call Finder. It’s a national directory of practices that specialize in home-based medical care, searchable by location. That’s the best starting point if you’re looking for a dedicated house call provider rather than a one-time urgent visit.
Beyond that directory, try searching for “mobile urgent care” or “home visit doctor” along with your city name. Many of the larger on-demand services cover major metro areas and are expanding into smaller markets. Your health insurance company may also maintain a list of in-network providers who offer home visits, so it’s worth calling the number on your insurance card and asking directly.
If you or a family member is homebound and needs ongoing care, ask your current primary care doctor for a referral to a home-based primary care program. Many health systems have launched these programs in the last decade, and your doctor may be able to connect you without much legwork.
What Doctors Can Do in Your Home
Modern house call visits go well beyond a stethoscope and a prescription pad. Providers now carry portable diagnostic equipment that allows them to run blood tests, perform ultrasounds, administer IV fluids, stitch wounds, and manage many conditions that previously required a clinic visit. Some programs can even coordinate portable X-rays and more advanced imaging when needed.
That said, house calls have limits. If you need a CT scan, an MRI, surgery, or monitoring in a controlled environment, you’ll still need to go to a facility. The sweet spot for house calls is primary care management, acute illnesses and injuries that don’t require emergency care, post-surgical follow-ups, and ongoing chronic disease management for people who struggle with transportation.
Does Insurance Cover House Calls?
Medicare covers home visits, and it’s the single biggest payer for house call medicine. For homebound patients, Medicare Part B reimburses physician visits in the home using specific billing codes for home services. The key requirement is medical necessity: the patient generally needs to be confined to the home (meaning leaving is a considerable and taxing effort) and require skilled medical care. A face-to-face encounter must occur within a specific window around the start of care, either within 90 days before or 30 days after.
Private insurance coverage varies widely. Many plans cover mobile urgent care visits the same way they’d cover a trip to urgent care, with a comparable copay. For ongoing home-based primary care, coverage depends on your specific plan and the provider’s billing arrangement. Some insurers have started contracting directly with home visit companies as they recognize the cost savings from keeping patients out of emergency rooms.
Concierge medicine membership fees are almost never covered by insurance, since the fee pays for access and convenience rather than specific medical services. However, individual visits performed by a concierge doctor can sometimes be billed to insurance separately from the membership itself.
Why Home Visits Are Growing
The 40% increase in home visit providers between 2016 and 2022 reflects several converging forces. The population is aging, and more people are living with multiple chronic conditions that make regular office visits difficult. About two-thirds of all home-based medical care visits in 2022 took place in assisted living facilities, where residents need medical attention but aren’t in a hospital or nursing home.
For visits to private residences specifically, the number of providers grew by 49% over that same period. The total number of home visits to private residences increased by about 10%, which means more doctors are doing this work but each one is seeing fewer home patients on average. That’s partly because many of these providers split their time between office practice and house calls rather than doing home visits exclusively.
Research on patient outcomes supports the model. A randomized trial published in JAMA Network Open found that patient experience scores for home-based care were comparable to in-facility care, and 30-day hospital readmission rates were similar between the two groups. For patients who find office visits physically taxing or logistically impossible, receiving the same quality of care at home removes a major barrier to staying healthy.
What a Typical House Call Looks Like
If you book a mobile urgent care visit, expect a call or text confirming your appointment window, usually same-day. A clinician (often a physician assistant or nurse practitioner, sometimes a physician) arrives with a medical kit, examines you, and can often prescribe medications electronically to your pharmacy before leaving. The whole visit typically takes 30 to 60 minutes, longer than most office appointments.
For ongoing home-based primary care, the first visit is usually the longest. The provider does a comprehensive assessment of your health, medications, home safety, and care needs. Follow-up visits are scheduled at regular intervals, often monthly, and you’ll have a direct line to the care team between visits. Many programs also coordinate with home health aides, physical therapists, and social workers to address needs beyond what the doctor handles.
In both cases, the visit tends to feel less rushed than a typical office appointment. Providers who come to your home can see your living environment, spot fall hazards, check that medications are stored and organized properly, and get a fuller picture of your daily life than they’d ever get in a 15-minute office slot.