House calls are on the way: Health startup expands doctor house calls to Atlanta area with Aetna

A Los Angeles-based startup, Heal, is expanding doctor house calls to Atlanta. Aetna members will be able to get house calls, nonmembers pay $150. Service is available in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett Counties. The service runs from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day of the year.

Insurance company Aetna announced it is teaming up with the Los Angeles-based startup Heal to offer doctor house calls to the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Aetna’s commercial members, according to the announcement, will be able to get house calls from Heal’s doctors. Heal uses board-certified family practice doctors, internists and pediatricians.

"Aetna — together with CVS — has a very strong commitment and interest to meeting patients where they are, making services and health care more accessible and simple," Frank Ulibarri, Aetna market president for Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, told Home Health Care News.

» For chest pain not caused by a heart attack, doctors have a remedy

According to Heal's website, the service is available in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett counties. To check your address specifically, they recommend downloading the app (AndroidiOS) and entering your address. There is also a list of cities on their Atlanta info page.

Service is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day of the year. Atlanta residents not covered by Aetna can book a house call from Heal for $150.

About Heal

Heal is a startup. According to Home Health Care News, it announced in May that the company had raised $20 million in funding, making $71 million raised since 2014.

The value of their company, CEO Nick Desai said, is in removing all friction involved in getting good medical care. They posit that their app and ability to send doctors’ to people’s homes will help patients get better care.

“We’ve removed the friction and barriers that go into people making sub-optimal choices for when they seek health care - like running to the emergency room or just ignoring the issue,” Desai said.