House Calls Go High-Tech With Mend App
Dr. Jonathan Clarke is taking modern medicine old-school with his new app-based house-call service known as Mend.
“Healthcare isn’t convenient,” Clarke said. “We aim to change that.”
Mend is a way for people suffering from anything from the sniffles to minor injuries to receive medical care in the comfort of their home, office, or hotel room.
Although Clarke doesn’t have a background in technology, he wanted to bring the same level of care he saw during his 15-year tenure as an emergency physician for the Navy.
“It’s been a great learning process,” he said. “We found a good app developer to put together what I envisioned.”
The process of using Mend — which serves a customer base primarily in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow — is simple: request an appointment through the free mobile app or call the appointment hotline. Then Clarke or one of Mend’s five physician assistants or nurse practitioners will arrive at your designated location.
All of the company’s employees have experience in emergency medicine and can give prescriptions. Mend also partners with Dougherty’s Pharmacy for prescription delivery.
Each appointment is slotted for an hour and a half, which is much longer than usual emergency rooms.
“This lets me practice how I want to practice,” said Mark Elliott, one of Mend’s physician assistants. “I would usually see three, four, five patients in the same time frame while working in the ER.”
Although Mend does not accept insurance, Clarke feels the price menu is much better for the customer in the age of flexible spending accounts.
“Copays and deductibles are getting higher and higher,” he said. “Our services are providing savings as opposed to any other venue.”
Weekday appointments (8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) run customers $199 and weekend appointments (11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.) cost $249. If any other services are needed (medicines, labs, a more complex procedure such as stitches, etc.), those prices are listed on the menu.
“What you see is what you get,” Elliott said. “You don’t have to wait two months for a bill from insurance to see what they will or won’t cover.”
Clarke said the response from the community has been positive.
“Everyone is excited,” Clarke said. “This is an unprecedented convenience in medicine. We are giving people half their day back.”
