If you are sick and unable to make an appointment to see your regular doctor, you know you have urgent care and the emergency room as options. However, you now have another option that's a modern update of an older procedure -- the house call. While these might seem a bit risky because you wouldn't be in a medical center with diagnostic equipment at the ready, a house call may actually be a healthier way to have an initial checkup.

No Driving

If you have to go to an urgent care center or emergency room, many times you'll end up having to drive yourself. Ambulance rides cost money, and if you are simply dealing with something like a minor infection, an ambulance would be overkill. But that leaves the problem of trying to drive when you may have taken medication that could make you too sleepy to drive safely.

With a house call -- be it a traditional-style call where a doctor shows up at your home, or the modern alternative where a doctor talks to you via a video call -- you don't have to go anywhere. You just have to stay awake enough to talk to the doctor and discuss symptoms. If the doctor feels your condition warrants you actually going to a treatment center, then he or she can advise you on how to do that safely given your medicated status.

No Additional Illness

If you're already feeling awful, the last thing you need is another illness on top of that, contracted from another sick person in the hospital. Or worse, an infection from bacteria like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is often picked up in medical settings.

In an urgent care house call that's done via video chat, there is no risk of that. Any risk of illness transmission via an in-person house call would be minimal due to safety protocols that the house-call company has in place.

More Productive Waits

Rather than spending a few hours in an urgent care center waiting room (or several hours in an emergency room waiting area), you get to stay at home and take care of things there while you wait for a doctor to be available. Many times the waits are very short, and you just have to sit for a brief time. But if you find you have to wait a little longer, you can sleep or do other things at home, rather than re-reading the same magazine in the waiting room for half the day.

If you are interested in signing up for a house-call service, talk to your doctor about which local services he or she knows of, and then talk to those services about requirements, pricing, and other factors. Make recovering from an illness much easier with help at home.