Health care delivered to your door

I guess it’s no surprise that entrepreneurs are taking advantage of people’s disgust with the current state of health care (7 in 10 people think health care has major problems at the least) by giving you easy access to doctors, wellness programs, and prescription drugs. It’s part of the on-demand economy, like Uber and Amazon.

Some companies, such as one called Heal, will send a doctor or nurse practitioner to your home to treat non-emergency problems such as a sprained ankle or strep throat. Another company, The I.V. Doc, offers intravenous treatments for conditions such as hangovers, food poisoning, and jet lag.  GymGuyz, is a “gym on wheels” that sends a trainer and fitness equipment to your home. Other companies will come to your home and inject you with Botox and Restylane, if that’s your thing.

Then there’s a company called PillPack, owned by Amazon. This online company sorts your medications by date and time and delivers them to you monthly in little packets marked with day and time. I guess that saves your from having to put your pills in those little boxes marked with days of the week.

Many health insurers are on board with some of these businesses, apparently because early detection and treatment could prevent a problem into morphing into something worse that require hospitalization. Moreover, the visits can help people stay on top of chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Some insurance companies are even forming managed care partnerships with these new health care providers.

None of this will do me much good. I don’t take prescription meds and I doubt that any health care person is going to make it to Boulder Creek, much less up our sketchy one-lane road.

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