Summer Health, a text-based service for parents to get answers to urgent needs from pediatricians, is expanding into primary care.
Summer Health’s care teams will now offer the following services to thousands of parents nationwide:
- Unlimited access to medical practitioners assigned to each family’s account, similar to a primary pediatric practice – families are assigned a lead pediatrician and medical team for continuity of care.
- A companion app called CareHub for parents to easily manage a child’s health all in one place with visit notes, milestone tracking and treatment plans.
- Unlimited access to specialists, including sleep coaches, lactation consultants and nutritionists.
Summer Health got its start in July 2022 with a mission to bring the most underutilized communication medium in health care – SMS – to patients. There are now more than 22 million millennial parents in the U.S. alone, and countless studies have shown that millennials prefer to text, versus picking up the phone. Meanwhile, with a high-quality video or image from a smartphone, physicians are increasingly finding that they can diagnose a wide range of conditions remotely.
“Because reimbursement rates are higher for video and in-person services, the health care system defaults there,” said Ellen DaSilva, CEO of Summer Health. “But as a mom of three myself, I know that parents sometimes just want a quick gut check or second opinion from a trusted, knowledgeable source.”
The Everyday Care portal gives parents a dedicated team of pediatricians and specialists for on-going care, with 24/7 access to Summer Health’s full network of providers. With responses guaranteed in 15 minutes or less, a team of pediatricians and specialists in lactation, sleep and nutrition develop a whole view of a child’s physical wellness. Along with urgent needs, this expansion of Summer Health’s offerings provides a holistic approach to care, empowering parents to establish deeper relationships with their Summer Health care team, who will have a complete understanding of the health of their children and remain available at all hours of the day.
Summer Health began by treating some of the most common, urgent ailments, including viral infections, mysterious rashes, upset stomachs, ear infections and pink eye. The company treats its patients fully virtually, and includes an online prescribing service in cases where the company’s pediatricians deem it clinically necessary. Summer Health is not intended to replace a primary care pediatrician, but instead to provide an additional layer of convenient care from home. Summer Health’s providers respond to inquiries within 15 minutes or less.
“I joined Summer Health to address this growing shortage of pediatricians nationwide, which is a growing concern for both parents and providers,” said Dr. Ali Alhassani, Head of Clinical at Summer Health. “Message-based health care provides so much potential for remote flexibility and income potential that many pediatricians are looking for, as well as convenience for families.”
Summer Health is available for $20/month and covers all children in the household under the same subscription.
To learn more about Summer Health, visit www.summerhealth.com.
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