Domiciliary visits by pathologists: an evaluation.

DOMICILIARY VISITS BY PATHOLOGISTS MAY CONFER BENEFITS OF VARIOUS KINDS: enabling many illnesses to be managed safely at home rather than by admission to hospital or attendance at the outpatient department; reassurance of patients, relatives, and family practitioners; the mutual education of family practitioners and pathologists; and the improvement of outcome of disease by early investigation.An analysis of the financially definable costs and benefits of 1,182 domiciliary visits by two pathologists during an eight-year period shows that the savings are much greater than the costs.