Photo by Erin Nelson.
Dr. Matt Parker, partner at OnDemand Healthcare, updates information in the computer at the clinic located on Huntley Parkway in Pelham.
The idea for the recently opened OnDemand Healthcare practice came about in an interesting way. CRNP’s Charlie King and Tim Watkins had planned to open a mobile urgent care unit to do house calls. King was friends with Dr. Matt Parker, who had his own practice for 12 years as a solo provider, and asked him to be their collaborating physician.
Instead of going with that original plan, the three of them decided to combine ideas and open a practice together, offering complete primary care along with having the element of house calls.
In early 2020, the trio formed OnDemand Healthcare and decided to open a brick-and-mortar location in Pelham, convenient to Shelby County 11 and 52 and Interstate 65. The location opened June 1. It’s also a convenient spot for Dr. Parker, who lives in Highland Lakes, and for King, who lives in Greystone.
King said that direct primary care had always been an interest of his. Although it has become popular in other parts of the country, there are not many practices in the Birmingham area yet.
“We can make [health care] affordable to people, much more than they think,” King said. “People think they have to have insurance to have healthcare, but the bulk of the population pay a lot of money for insurance they don’t really utilize. We wanted to provide a concept of having affordable primary care options where you could pay upfront.”
For people with either no insurance or insurance that has a high deductible or one they never reach, this model provides a convenient option. Patients receive personalized care and insurance companies from the process, instead using a direct-pay model. This allows them to build close relationships and develop trust with their patients to provide individualized care. Patients pay all costs upfront, and if they do have insurance, can send their bill for reimbursement.
King said one of the other benefits is that they have more time to spend with their patients.
“Typically, Dr. Parker will spend half an hour with each patient,” he said. “We don’t have to be that busy to have a quick turnover. On average, a physician spends eight minutes in the room, and they have to see 38 patients a day and we only have to see 18.”
Patients can either choose a membership or pay per visit. After the initial $100 consultation fee, a $99 membership fee per month includes up to four primary care visits annually, up to six urgent care visits, comprehensive lab work, many prescribed medications filled on site at cost, reduced pricing on hormone replacement and at-cost pricing for radiology and other discount services. Sick visit house calls are $75.
For the pay-as-you-go option, it’s $100 for primary care visits, $75 for in-office sick visits and $150 for sick visit house calls.
“For our established patients, we also offer telemedicine,” King said. “They can call us on the phone to discuss what’s going on. We hope to roll that feature out to the general public in the future, along with house calls as well.”
OnDemand Healthcare also offers aesthetic services including Botox, Jeuveau, Juvaderm, Latisse and microneedling along with hormone replacement and weight loss. They also draw all lab work on site and send it out for testing.
The practice has also partnered with a cost sharing company to offer coverage to help patients save money and offer catastrophic coverage.
“Right now, it’s Tim and his wife [who is an RN], myself and my wife, who helps out at front and Dr. Parker,” King said. “We fully expect to grow and have already been surprisingly successful the first two months. If this trend continues, we will be adding at least some part time nurse practitioners to help.”
