On-demand doctor app expands to DC

D.C. is the latest expansion market for an app that’s looking to help call the doctor.

Heal, which was founded in San Francisco, officially launched in the District and part of Northern Virginia earlier this month.

Apps can order lots of things, but the basis of the startup’s model is an old one: the doctor “house call.” Now the doctors are on-demand, and there’s room for disruption.

“The doctor’s office is dead. No longer is great medicine tied to bureaucracy or buildings. Quality care is available at your home, on-demand,” Heal CEO Nick Desai said in a statement. Additionally, it addresses the strong desire across healthcare to decrease emergency room visits, which is also a focus of telehealth.

The app connects users with doctors, who can visit a home or office. The startup says doctors arrive in about two hours, and are available from 8 a.m.–8 p.m. Patients are charged a $99 flat fee.

With the expansion, Heal also named Dr. Kari Scantlebury of Inova Fairfax Hospital as medical director for the East Coast.