Medical House Call Service Launches In OKC

House calls may sound like a luxury from our past, but a new service is changing that.

Every morning an EMT and physician's assistant or nurse practitioner from Dispatch Health load up their medical bag and hop into their car. 

"We say we're bringing back the house call," said Andrea Pearson with Dispatch Health. 

This time around however, 21st century technology makes it all possible. They call that car a "rover."

Patients can request an appointment by calling or online. The crew has access to an on-call physician and can communicate with your doctor. That medical bag is filled with not only the basics, but high-tech lab testing equipment. 

"So we have a wide range of things we can do," said Pearson.  "Everything you can see treated in an urgent care and a bit more." 

Dispatch Health, based in Denver, is in seven markets. They agreed to come to Oklahoma City thanks to a first of it's kind partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma. 

"All of our members in the Oklahoma City area will pay in-network benefit levels," said Catherine Divis of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma. 

That means Blue Cross Blue Shield members will pay the same as if they would go to an urgent care, but the patients aren't the only one's saving money.

Without the overhead of an ER and sometimes the cost of an ambulance transport, Pearson said it's eight to 10 times cheaper to provide care this way. 

"As we look for ways to be much more efficient about our health care dollars, we look at this as a really exceptional way to provide high quality care to the patient and for the health care system itself," Pearson said. 

Meaning patients can enjoy the comfort and convenience of a house call. 

The service launches officially on Thursday in Oklahoma City.

Click here to learn more about the service.