Thus, I also carried a trauma bag with lots of sterile dressings and some Time magazines, which made handy splints, as well as a tank of oxygen. Today, chiefly for economic reasons, there are many fewer house calls, although not because they would not be a valuable part of patient care. Today, from time to time, I make a visit to a patient's home. And I still own a black doctor's bag, although much smaller than before. In it I keep some basic equipment such as an extra stethoscope, flashlight and reflex hammer, but generally I stock the bag before departing with what I think will be needed for the specific house call I am making.
Patients still love the house call.
Sadly, we have largely abandoned home care to our colleagues in nursing. The contents would be remarkably similar in categories to those described by Dr. Gordon. I would also probably add a portable computer with a modem to transmit EKG tracings and obtain consultation. The bottom-line case for making house calls. N.C. Dr. Taylor moved to Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine, Portland, in 1984, where he served as chair of the family medicine department until 1998.