Memphis pediatrician brings back the house call
Pediatrician Dr. Katie Barger is bringing back the solo doctor’s office — also called direct primary care. She’s got her stethoscope and physician’s bag and she’s ready to make house calls. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)
With her doctor’s bag in hand, Memphis pediatrician Dr. Katie Barger travels to her patients’ homes for house calls.
Unburdened by waiting room formalities, insurance processes and check-in procedures, Barger typically greets her patients in their own bedrooms.
“It’s funny because in medical school, I was actually in the rural medicine track, and we did house calls,” said Barger, who studied medicine at Quillen College, part of East Tennessee State University in Johnson City. “I just love the idea of a country doctor who really knows their patients and sees them in their homes.”
House calls fell out of favor in the latter half of the 20th century, as practices grew larger and health care became more hospital-centric. And although Barger’s approach may be reminiscent of a bygone era, the care she delivers is decidedly modern, with a focus on urban and suburban patients.
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Aisling Mäki
Aisling Mäki covers health care, banking and finance, technology and professions. After launching her career in news two decades ago, she worked in public relations for almost a decade before returning to journalism in 2022.
As a health care reporter, she’s collaborated with The Carter Center, earned awards from the Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalists and won a 2024 Tennessee Press Association first-place prize for her series on discrepancies in Shelby County life expectancy by ZIP code.
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