Choosing a pediatrician for your child is one of the most important decisions you will make as a parent. While traditional office visits may be the norm, an increasing number of parents are turning to concierge pediatricians for more personalized and accessible care. At 127 Pediatrics, we offer in-home visits, video or telemedicine appointments and direct access to the pediatrician. Another bonus of concierge level care is more time with your child’s doctor.
In this article, we’ll explore why choosing a concierge pediatrician may be the right choice for your family.
What Is a Concierge Pediatrician?
First of all, concierge medicine is gaining in popularity for both doctors and patients in this country. In our current health care system, patients don’t often get the personalized care that they desire. Additionally, families are deciding on less traditional routes of medical care by forgoing traditional health insurance.
At 127 Pediatrics, we operate under the direct primary care or concierge model of care. Our practice is a membership based practice where we offer ongoing and more personalized medical care to our patients. The benefits of having a concierge pediatrician includes accessibility, direct phone and text access to your child’s pediatrician, easy to schedule appointments, longer visits and care in the comfort of your own home.
During the last several years, we definitely saw a spike in enrollment into our practice. This was especially true while the COVID-19 pandemic was raging through the country. Many people are beginning to recognize the convenience of not leaving their home for doctor’s visits.
Before you can decide if a concierge pediatrician is right for your family, you need to understand how this model works and what the benefits are.
Concierge Pediatrician Benefits
The benefits of a concierge pediatrician for your family are numerous. Instead of waiting in a crowded waiting room with all of your children, you wait at home for your concierge pediatrician to arrive. Practices like 127 Pediatrics offer direct access to your child’s pediatrician as well as home visit care. No more taking all of your kids to the doctor’s office to spend hours in a waiting room just for a 10 minute visit with the doctor.
At 127 Pediatrics, we care for children at home where they are most comfortable.
Additionally, as part of our medical services, 127 Pediatrics offers more personalized care for your children. Dr. Wadley has the time to get to know your child and their unique health care needs. She offers care for kids at home, over the phone or video chat. Also, coordination of care is part of the services of 127 Pediatrics. We offer a convenient way for your children to experience health care by removing all of the middle men that get between you and your child’s doctor.
In addition to convenience, having a concierge pediatrician or at-home pediatrician is ideal for first time parents. As part of her medical practice, Dr. Wadley is not only a board certified pediatrician, but board certified in breastfeeding medicine as well. We offer pediatric medical services as well as breastfeeding consults as part of our concierge medical practice.
Direct Access to Your Concierge Pediatrician
Possibly, one of the greatest benefits of a concierge pediatrician is direct access to your child’s doctor. At 127 Pediatrics, you have direct access to Dr. Wadley by phone or text. You don’t have to sit on hold or play phone tag with a receptionist or nurse to try and ask a simple question. You can call or text me whenever you have a question or need your child to be seen for a sick visit.
Imagine that you are sitting at home with your child and they have a high fever and rash. Instead of rushing off to the ER to sit for hours, you can call your child’s pediatrician directly.
Concierge Pediatrics Saves You Time
One of the number one complaints for most people is feeling rushed through their visit with the doctor. The health insurance model of care requires doctors to see as many people as possible in order to get reimbursed enough money to keep the lights on at their practice. As a concierge pediatrician, families pay me directly and therefore I am able to maintain a smaller patient panel. This allows me to give extra time and attention to each of my patients.
As a concierge and at-home pediatrician, my practice overhead is lower than the average medical practice with a building and a large staff. This also allows me to practice pediatric medicine for a smaller group of patients. I am able to provide longer visits and concierge level pediatric care for my patients.
During our routine care visits, your children will experience excellent care. I am able to involve the entire family in the care plan and save you time. We use our visit time efficiently and you don’t spend time waiting for your child’s appointment to start. You don’t have to take hours and hours off of school or work in order to get the care that your child needs.
Convenience is Key
Nothing is worse than having a sick child and having to load them up in the car, drive across town and sit and wait for an appointment. Or worse yet, sit at an urgent care because your child’s pediatrician can’t see them that day.
As a concierge pediatrician, I offer same day care for my sick patients. Often, I will give parents some things that they can do for their child at home to support them while they are sick. Or if your child is sick enough to be seen the same day, I offer an in-home appointment to see them.
Additionally, at 127 Pediatrics, we offer video visits where I can assess what your child looks like, how they are breathing and if they have any rashes or other concerning symptoms. If your child is safe to observe for a few days at home, I am continuously in touch with you to make sure that your child is improving.
Text messaging is the cornerstone of an at-home concierge pediatric practice. Simply hop on your phone and send a quick text to your child’s pediatrician. Concierge pediatrics offers unparalleled convenience. And an at-home pediatrician offers even more convenience as you never have to leave your home with a sick child.
Personalized Care
Although, most kids have the same pediatrician their whole life, in a traditional medical setting that does not mean that your child’s pediatrician knows them well. With short visits and maybe not seeing the same doctor or even a doctor at all each time, it is difficult to feel like your child’s pediatrician knows them well.
As a concierge pediatrician, I am the one seeing all of my patients. You never have to worry about seeing a different person or someone that may not even be a doctor in the first place. My practice is small enough that I can spend the time to get to know your kids.
As an at-home pediatrician, I get to see your children in their home environment. Nothing helps me to get to know them better than knowing what their favorite stuffy is, how their room is painted purple because it is their favorite color and how safe their sleep environment is. I am able to get to know each child on a more holistic level instead of just seeing them as “that 4 year old” that likes stuffed animals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Changing to a concierge pediatrician for your kids may feel overwhelming at first, but many families are choosing to make the switch. Nothing is more precious than your children. They deserve the best kind of pediatric care around.
While most people love the idea of a personalized in-home pediatrician, they have many questions.
Is it Expensive to Have a Concierge Pediatrician?
Concierge pediatricians offer concierge care and a range of services. At 127 Pediatrics, we operate on a membership fee model. You can pay your membership fee monthly or pay an annual membership fee to access all of the benefits that an at-home concierge pediatrician has to offer. We charge between $125- $250 per month depending on your child’s age. We do not accept any health insurance plans as payment for visits, but often we can use your health insurance plan for vaccines. You can also continue to use your health insurance for labs, specialists, etc.
Our membership includes wellness visits, sick visits, care for chronic conditions, same-day or next-day appointments and the administration of vaccines and certain rapid tests. The cost of vaccines and labs are not included in your child’s membership. Some families find that they actually save money by having a concierge at-home pediatrician for their children. You could potentially save thousands of dollars in wasted time and unnecessary referrals to specialists.
Does My Child Still Need Health Insurance?
While we provide comprehensive general pediatric care for our concierge pediatric patients, we still do recommend that you have health insurance in case of a catastrophic event. More and more, there are some affordable options that pair well with the services of a concierge pediatrician. You don’t necessarily need to continue to keep your child on your extremely expensive health insurance plan. There are many options now. We recommend that you talk to an insurance broker. Dr. Wadley happens to be married to one that can advise you. 🙂
Why Choose A Home Visits Only Practice?
When I was designing my ideal practice, home visits were something that was important to me. And now that I have been doing this practice for almost 5 years, home visits are something that has become important for my patient families. As a concierge at-home pediatrician, home visits not only allow me to see your child’s home environment, but they allow me to see your child in their relaxed state. So much of developmental milestones are best observed when your child is relaxed and behaving like their normal selves.
Additionally, home visits provide an extra layer of convenience for families with new babies. Who wants to pack up all of the baby gear and head to the pediatrician’s office a few days after giving birth? I certainly did not as a new mom and therefore, I designed a practice that is meant to serve this population well.
Is 127 Pediatrics Right For Your Family?
If you are contemplating a concierge pediatrician for your children, 127 Pediatrics may be a good fit for your family. We offer all of the benefits of a concierge pediatrician in the comfort of your own home. Give us a call today at 817.476.0675 to set up a free meet and greet to see if our practice is a good fit for your family.
© 127 Pediatrics; March 2023, updated January 2024
This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice.
Dr. Andrea Wadley is the owner, pediatrician, and breastfeeding medicine specialist for 127 Pediatrics. She has an established house-calls only concierge pediatric practice in Colleyville, TX. She is also the owner and operator of the 127 Pediatrics Online Breastfeeding Medicine and Education Center.
