Guidelines for home visits

(Aotea News, August 2010)

How we organise the home visits system

Aotea Pathology visits about 100 patients in their own home or care facility every day to collect blood samples.

On average two to three of these patients are not in when we visit. Many requests are for us to visit at particular times because of appointments outside the home.

Visits are co-ordinated from the main laboratory by our domiciliary co-ordinators who:

• take bookings
• prioritise requests — taking into account urgency, fasting patients and those withholding medication
• allocate visits — some geographical areas have specific days of the week for service with routine visits done on those days.

Our domiciliary co-ordinators’ phone may receive more than 80 calls a day, so if your call is not answered immediately please leave a message. There will be someone at the desk but they will probably be busy with other calls.

Messages are cleared many times each day, and staff will contact you if they need further information.

When to request a home visit

The guidelines for domiciliary visits can be found on our website under ‘Doctor Information’, or download the document from here: http://apath.co.nz/BULLETINS/ Housecall_Web_Info.pdf

Important points to remember:

• The request for a phlebotomy home visit must be made by the referring medical practitioner or their authorised representative (eg, senior practice nurse). We are unable to accept requests from patients or their families.
• The patient must be housebound or have seriously impaired mobility due to a medical condition. We are unable to provide this service for non-compliance or transportation needs.
• The patient must be physically or mentally impaired and have no support person to transport them to our collection rooms.

How to request a home visit

There are several ways to organise a home visit for your patient.

• Phone: 381 5900, option 3.
• Fax: 381 5937. This pops out straight on the domiciliary desk. Make sure all the information needed is on the lab request form (including patient phone number) and write the date required.
• Email: collections@apath.co.nz. This is quick and easy, and we can easily reply to confirm the booking. We will still need a lab request form, so scan and email, or fax, the form through to us with your request.