Doctors on Demand
Dallas-based app meets growing need for on-demand healthcare for Texas kids
Gone are the days of waiting for hours in a doctor's office full of germs with your sick kid. Meet PediaQ, an innovative children's healthcare app that provides instant care via house calls in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and, soon, Austin.
The desire for on-demand medical services is growing, and healthcare apps like Mend are heeding the call. PediaQ, which launched in Dallas in 2015 and The Woodlands area of Houston in 2016, brings the same services to people's homes — specifically for kids.
From allergic reactions to the need for stitches, PediaQ provides full medical care to children, including onsite testing, lab work, and prescription pickup. Using the app, parents can book an appointment, and a nurse practitioner arrives within an hour. Most nurse practitioners have at least five to 10 years of experience, and they have to complete training with PediaQ prior to service. Their credentials, as well as reviews, are available in the app.
These nurse practitioners treat everything from flu and cold to pink eye. PediaQ accepts most insurance carriers; consumers pay their usual co-pay plus a $25 convenience fee. At the parent's request, the child's urgent care visit information can be sent to his or her pediatrician.
PediaQ has completed more than 3,000 house calls since its launch and has earned hundreds of five-star ratings on Facebook. Now, with an additional $4.5 million in funding, PediaQ is expanding its presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston markets and setting up services in Austin this September. The exact areas of expansion in DFW and Houston are to be determined and will be based on market needs.
"PediaQ will revolutionize how I seek to treat my own children when they are sick," says Stephen Hays, managing partner of Deep Space Ventures and a PediaQ investor, in a release. "The world-class leadership and team at PediaQ made it easy to see the vision and understand how this platform will change the delivery of healthcare."
PediaQ is available from 2-10 pm on weekdays and 8 am-10 pm on weekends. The standard PediaQ fee if not using insurance is $150, but additional fees (lab work, injections, prescription pickup) may apply. To access PediaQ services, simply download the free app or visit the website.
