ADVERTISING : Doctors Are Making House Calls Again, but Not at Houses
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Ten local physicians are bringing back the house call. They have begun a service that offers doctor visits to ailing travelers in Orange County hotels.
The group, called House Call Physicians, is marketing its 24-hour service using brochures in hotel rooms and by leaving its telephone number with front desk clerks. Business is brisk enough that Dr. Peter J. Muran, founder of the year-old Santa Ana company, plans to add 15 more physicians to his on-call list for the summer season.
“Travelers are really grateful when they see us,” said Muran, a former emergency room doctor at Western Medical Center-Anaheim. “We’ve basically saved their vacation for them.”
The doctors--mostly internists and emergency-room physicians--are called most often to prescribe medicines left at home, to replace lost contact lenses and for minor colds, stomachaches and sore throats, according to Muran. The service averages eight to 10 calls a day.
Doctors like the work--it pays $100 an hour, Muran said, and the patients usually have insurance.
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